It’s tempting to write off the ASUO as irrelevant. Certainly that’s what a great swath of the student population does, judging by how happy everyone in student government seems to be about the record 25 percent voter turnout in the 2010 election.
But the ASUO is not irrelevant. Here are five events that argue against the irrelevance of the ASUO from the past year:
• Pacifica Forum: For those unfamiliar, the Pacifica Forum is a free speech group that meets on campus. Members’ decisions to invite speakers who deny the Holocaust happened and present anti-Semitic speeches make the Forum controversial.
Community members have been protesting the group for a while, but in winter term, the protests became more visible, resulting in the Forum being moved farther from the heart of campus.
ASUO President Emma Kallaway and others called for the group’s removal from University property. But that call was controversial; it pitted those who said removing the Pacifica Forum would damage free speech against those who said the group’s presence on campus contributes to unsafe feelings among nonwhite students.
In part it was important precisely because of the attention it received. One ASUO senator broke out in tears on the Senate floor when presented with the idea that the Pacifica Forum’s presence on campus might attach Holocaust denial and racism to the University’s reputation.
• 24-hour library: Knight Library stays open from 11 a.m. Sunday until 7 p.m. Friday during academic weeks 3–10 because of ASUO funding. Questions of how to make the service permanent in the ASUO’s budget have existed since the service began last year. This year, the ASUO found a way to circumvent snags in union contracts to keep the building open.
• LTD contract: Students can ride Lane Transit District buses for free with their University I.D. cards because of the ASUO’s contract with the bus service provider.
That contract is volatile, however. This year, the ASUO negotiated a special rate for the contract
because it couldn’t pay for the contract with its own money, but next year LTD leaders say the ASUO must pay for the contract in full.
ASUO leaders say they hope to negotiate a lower permanent rate because students are one of LTD’s biggest clients. Both sides periodically mention dropping the contract. That’s not likely to happen, but it’s reason enough to pay attention.
• Conduct code: The University has tried periodically to greatly extend how long it can keep disciplinary records of students from the residence halls, but the ASUO has opposed that effort this year, successfully convincing the state to block the University’s efforts.
• Security cameras: The EMU will likely install security cameras by the end of the summer — an ASUO initiative.
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ASUO represent
Daily Emerald
June 3, 2010
Ivar Vong
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