During the last two weeks, the Emerald editorial board has had the pleasure of interviewing each of the 10 ASUO Executive tickets on this year’s ballot. It proved to be a difficult decision, since many of the candidates had excellent ideas for improving the ASUO Executive office in some way.
Although it was a tough choice, the Emerald is endorsing Rachel Pilliod and Ben Buzbee.
Their enthusiasm, as well as their wealth of leadership experience, made the pair stand out. Together, they have developed a solid understanding of campus issues and ASUO politics, through their service on the EMU Board, Student Senate, Constitution Court, the current ASUO Executive office and several student groups.
Most importantly, Pilliod and Buzbee are not making outlandish promises they will be unable to keep. They plan to continue working on the issues current ASUO President Nilda Brooklyn and Vice President Joy Nair have been dealing with all year, such as lowering energy costs through campus conservation, implementing Eugene housing standards and improving campus safety. These projects take time to complete, and it’s good to see Pilliod and Buzbee would build on the foundations the current executive has laid. In addition, Pilliod and Buzbee offered new, pragmatic proposals, such as their ideas to raise awareness for the Oregon Health Plan and ease University Health Center insurance billing problems. We believe University students would be best served by Pilliod and Buzbee, who will be sensitive to the diverse needs of the University and work tirelessly for the betterment of the school.
However, with so many tickets on the ballot, there were a lot of interesting ideas that were proposed during the course of our interviews. Pilliod and Buzbee get our full endorsement, but there a few other tickets that deserve recognition:
* John Ely and Hayes Hurwitz impressed us with their forthright style and honesty. The pair called the incidental fee what it really is — a tax — and said more students would be interested in protecting the fee once they viewed it as such. Also, their idea of solving football ticket woes by broadcasting the games live at McArthur Court was an original solution to an annual problem.
* Jesse Harding and Todd Brink struck us as ASUO ‘outsiders’ and could offer a fresh perspective on student affairs. The editorial board also liked the pair’s sincerity and candid manner.
* And finally, we liked Haben Woldu and Oscar Arana’s succinct and practical platform. Their idea of educating students about the parking ticket appeals process, as well as their idea to make the Multicultural Center and Career Center financially independent from the incidental fee, were creative and original concepts.