The ASUO Senate played host to a couple of unusual guests Wednesday night as Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) presented its campaign to reduce textbook prices and asked for the Senate’s support.
Nicole Allen@@http://www.ospirgstudents.org/staff@@, an OSPIRG representative, stood with two costumed characters to present a nationwide petition asking publishers to reduce textbook prices. The petition was presented by Textbook Rebellion@@http://www.ospirgstudents.org/latest-updates/the-textbook-rebellion@@, a coalition of groups including student PIRGs from around the country.
The petition states that textbook publishers should “provide access to each textbook for $30 or less per term without lowering quality.” Additionally, the petition asserts that “decision-makers should prioritize support for open textbooks.”
Senators were generally supportive of the effort, though there were some questions.
“Are you trying to eliminate costs?” asked Senator Laura Hinman@@directory@@, who was concerned about textbook authors getting fair compensation for their work.
“The name of our campaign is to make textbooks affordable, not make textbooks free,” Allen said.
While no vote was taken, the possibility of a resolution supporting the effort was discussed informally.
The Textbook Rebellion was in Eugene as part of a six-week tour through 40 colleges in 13 states.
Senator Christian Erichsen@@directory@@ said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the campaign’s goals and thought they offered realistic solutions.
“It is definitely an issue that students care about; it affects every student,” Erichsen said.
ASUO President Ben Eckstein@@directory@@ said that he would “fully support any effort to improve textbook affordability.”
The Senate also held confirmation hearings for three executive appointees. Before the hearings began, Eckstein entertained the senate’s concerns about the process used to hire appointees.
“No process is perfect,” Eckstein said. “(Vice President Katie Taylor@@directory@@) and I and our team are always striving to improve.”
Senator Ben Rudin@@CE@@ was concerned that senators were not involved on the hiring committee. He was concerned with evaluating a candidate against the other options for a position when the Senate was not aware what the alternatives were.
Eckstein was quick to contest this argument.
“The job of the Senate is to judge the candidate in front of them,” he said.
Senator Kaitlyn Lange@@CE@@ was concerned about communication with candidates, an area which Eckstein admitted needs some work.
“That was honestly just us needing to improve that,” Eckstein said.
Rudin’s criticism of the hiring process continued. He was concerned that the deadline for applications was Friday, Oct. 1, yet the appointments were announced Monday, Oct. 3. Rudin said this was not enough time to consider the applications, and thus he voted against all but one of the nominees.
“I have a problem with the application process,” Rudin explained. “I think it should be given more time.”
Hinman said she felt that some of the hiring was not “well-rounded,” making particular mention of the process of selecting the executive appointee to the ASUO Programs Finance Committee, on which Hinman sits.
Despite these concerns, Duy Minh Nguyen@@directory@@ was confirmed as the executive’s appointee to the PFC. Additionally, Vania Loredo@@directory@@ was confirmed to Senate Seat 4 (EMU Board) and Alexandra Flores-Quilty@@directory@@ was confirmed to Senate Seat 12 (Psychology and Language).
The Senate also elected its officers for the year, unanimously naming Senator Lamar Wise@@directory@@ as Senate President and Senator Harlan Mechling@@directory@@ as Senate Vice President. Elections to other positions were ongoing as of press time.