In high school, student governments often have little power
over legislative and fiscal issues affecting students.
At the collegiate level, however, things are a bit different.
The student government at
the University, collectively known as the Associated Students of the
University of Oregon, is responsible for, among other duties, allocating millions of dollars in student fees
to student groups and organizations on campus.
“We can fund the organizations that make changes that we want to be made and also just provide the services that we think we want to provide,” ASUO President Adam Petkun said.
There are three main branches
of the ASUO — the Executive,
the Student Senate and the Constitution Court.
As president, Petkun is a member of the Executive. With ASUO Vice President Mena Ravassipour, Petkun oversees a staff of fifteen students working to “play out the student vision for how we want the campus to be run,” he said.
“The purpose of ASUO Executive government is both to represent students to the University and community [and to] help organize them to make changes that they see fit to be made,” Petkun said.
Unlike high school, where each class elects its own representatives, the student government at the University is set up much like the U.S government, wherein a system of checks and balances keeps the power in the hands of the many, rather than the few, Petkun said.
Stressing that the branches of student government interact regularly, “At the same time we do respect the separation of powers, so we try not to intrude,” Petkun said.
The 18 members of the Student Senate are elected and must approve the Executive’s Constitution Court appointees. Nine of the Senators are academic senators, elected by students in their respective departments and colleges, and nine are finance senators, elected at large by the student body. The ASUO president has the power to veto Senate decisions, but the Senate can override an Executive veto with a two-thirds majority vote.
Rules regarding ASUO conduct are documented in the so-called “Green Tape Notebook,” which includes the ASUO Constitution. The Notebook outlines all of the ASUO’s duties, policies and rules.
The Constitution Court has
the authority to rule on the
constitutionality of any ASUO issue. Two of the Court’s five justices must be second or third-year law students.
The Programs Finance Committee — which includes three finance senators, two members elected at-large by the student body, one appointed by the ASUO president and one appointed by the ASUO Programs Council — allocates the incidental fee to student groups.
Similarly, the Athletic Department Finance Committee — like the
PFC, made up of both elected
and appointed officials — distributes the portion of the incidental
fee allocated to the department
by the Senate.
The EMU Board does the same with the EMU’s portion of the fee.
All final budget allocations must be approved by the Student Senate.
The 2004-05 ADFC budget has been set at $1,369,845, the EMU budget at $3,566,089 and the PFC budget at $4,889,672.
Petkun said one of the ASUO’s biggest problems in the past
has been making students aware
of its existence and developing
students’ interest in government
involvement.
“The ASUO has certainly always been working on amazing things, but people don’t always know about them,” Petkun said.
That’s where ASUO Public
Relations Director Nathan Strauss comes in.
Strauss manages the public face of the ASUO, working to ensure
all students understand the importance of ASUO and are aware of
all the opportunities available
for involvement.
Appointed by the Executive, Strauss said he does the majority
of his work for that branch because it does more in the way of
student advocacy through public campaigns and lobbying than the Senate and Constitution Court,
but is available as a resource for
all of ASUO.
“I don’t really work on any particular thing but sort of work with everyone on all their stuff,” he said.
Strauss is currently developing an official ASUO Web site and expects it to be online by the beginning of fall term.
The beginning of the school year is a great time to increase student involvement and interest in student government because of the array of activities being sponsored by the ASUO, Petkun said.
The ASUO Street Faire, a voter registration drive and the annual Weaving New Beginnings event are all events Petkun expects will serve as a great introduction to the ASUO and what it can do for students.
While some students may shy away from immediate involvement in campus activities so they can adjust to the barrage of new experiences starting college comes with, Petkun said it can also be just the opposite.
“It seems like freshman at times are also very eager to get involved because they’re looking for a place to fit in. They’re excited to come into the idealist sense of college life and to a lot of people that’s activism,” Petkun said. “This is a great place for activism.”

Meghann M. Cuniff is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald.