As the term begins, students are blessed with a few weeks of calm when their school work load has not peaked and their freshly tanned bodies are just easing into new classes. What better time in the term to hold a student election, when students are not as pressured by scholastic demands and might actually have time to attend events that the Elections Board holds. The Elections Board understands the importance of election dates, which is why we carefully researched and archived past criticisms. These dates were not picked by “stabbing blindly at (our) desk calendars” (“Early ASUO election date leaves students uninformed,” ODE, March 28) but rather with careful consideration of the Constitutional Court and the Oregon Daily Emerald’s past recommendation to keep elections out of law school dead week and finals. By considering these dates, the Elections Board is striving to hold elections in the best interest of the student body. In this circumstance, the best interest of students may not be the best interest of the press, and therefore the elections board will work extremely hard to facilitate the Oregon Daily Emerald and all other media outlets.
The Elections Board recognizes that this timeline could make it difficult for media outlets to provide the best coverage, especially when there is little time to contact and interview candidates. We apologize for any inconvenience this has provided for the Emerald staff, and we are dedicated to informing students to the best of our ability given the restrictions on date.
If any student at this university feels that they do not have the information needed to understand a
political candidate, we urge you to
e-mail or call the Elections Board. We are more than happy to put
you in contact with any member of any campaign.
2005 ASUO Elections Board