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Haben Woldu, a sophomore biology major, is running for ASUO president. Oscar Arana, a third year journalism major, is running for vice president.
Q: There are, at last count, 10 tickets running for ASUO Executive this year. What do you think will set yourselves apart from the other candidates?

A: We have worked on different boards and committees before for students and always feel like we complement each other and work well together. We have already worked for organizations implementing change on campus, and we just feel this is just a bigger change and more impact.
Q: What is your platform?
A: We have four main focuses. One of them is the incidental fee. We want to make sure administration pays for the things that they need to pay for and not use the incidental fee. Our other main concern is safety. We want to work together with the Women’s Center and the Department of Public Safety office to make sure that it is a safe environment for people to get a good education. Our third platform is parking. We want the DPS office to focus on safety issues rather than giving tickets and making money on it. Our fourth focus is the housing code. The current ASUO Exec. is already working on it and they have several people on board with that and they’re doing an awesome job that we feel could continue.

Q: What will you advocate for students on the state level, and how will you carry out your plans?
A: We, along with the Oregon Student Association Board, would advocate a lot for the Oregon Opportunity Grant and childcare. We want to make sure those communities are not going to be marginalized next year and we’re going to do as much as we can to make sure those students can come back the following year.
Q: What specific campus-oriented issues will you champion?
A: If elected, we’re going to work really closely with the parking issues. Students, through parking permits, parking tickets and parking meters, are paying $10.3 million to run the DPS. Also, when students are ticketed, there is one person that reviews their appeal. I don’t think lots of students know that they could re-appeal for a second trial where there is a board that gets to see the re-appeal that actually has two student seats. That board is very weak — they meet once a month, and that’s a voluntary board, so we want to stress for students to participate and make it more knowledgeable. Also, the housing code — we want to make sure when students start renting, they will have some protection and renter’s rights.
Q: How would you define diversity? And how would you plan to bring together the diverse voices on campus?
A: We would define diversity as a society comprised of different cultures, different backgrounds and different individuals. Something without color, gender or sexuality barriers. We are involved with retention of faculty of color, and we’re also involved in the inclusion of students of color in different departments, so we feel that we are already doing work to make this campus a diverse community.
Q: If two different students groups were at odds with each other, how would you resolve the conflict?
A: Mostly through communication. We have worked with a lot of different leaders and different organizations, and we have seen a lot of different conflicts arise.
Q: If there was one thing you could change about the University instantly, what would it be?
A: Administration. We feel that administration and the students should work together. We feel that administration does not listen to students.
Q: How would you do things differently than the current ASUO Executive?
A: The current ASUO Exec has does a tremendously good job this year. There is always room for improvement. We have a very friendly and welcoming personality, so we would try to make ASUO more acceptable and more welcoming to all students. A lot of ASUO Execs in the past have promised that the ASUO will be more friendly, but it’s not changing the ASUO, it’s changing the people in it and the energy that they bring.