Nearly three months have passed since an undisclosed group of self-described “cocky, smooth, motherfuckers” from our student government violated conduct code and Oregon Administrative Rules during an Oct. 8-10 Sunriver retreat by drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.
More than a month has passed since
the ASUO decided to take group responsibility for the violations. By way of punishment, ASUO officials proposed fundraising and/or garnishing of wages as a way to restore the approximately $3,200 of student incidental fees spent on housing and transportation for the retreat.
At the time, ASUO Public Relations Director Nathan Strauss said of the group
punishment: “It was just the responsible
thing to do.”
Now the rhetoric has changed. Certain members of student government are questioning the “feasibility” of repaying the
money. However, since they have insisted
on taking group responsibility for their actions, everyone on the retreat would either have to pay or fundraise less than $100 in order to repay the money in full. That seems more than feasible.
Furthermore, if individuals don’t want
to pay back the money when they’ve done
nothing wrong, then they should drop this group responsibility farce and let those who’ve broken the law pay for what they’ve done personally.
While producing a dos-and-don’ts video (hopefully not using incidental fees) and forming a committee are two great steps toward guarding against future misconduct, paying the money back is a crucial step toward making right what they did wrong in the first place.
The bottom line is this: Student money
that is inappropriately used should be paid back. Certain ASUOians will argue that the money was not used inappropriately because the retreat served a valuable function for the group, in addition to its more “taboo”
components. But just because useful work occurred at the retreat does not mean that the funds were used appropriately. Helpful byproducts do not justify inappropriate use of student money.
Don’t forget the note written in the guest book of one of the houses rented by ASUO members in Sunriver: “Do you pay incidental fees at the Univ. of Oregon? If so, your
money just paid for six people to sleep here for two nights. We got drunk, played taboo, and learned about the finance system, all
on your dime. We are some cocky,
smooth, motherfuckers.”
The ASUO’s lame excuses for refusing to do the responsible thing is further evidence that they just don’t care about the student body and our dime. When elections come around, the student body should kick the entire group out of office.

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