Lingheshwari Kakkanaiah

• Desired position: PFC at-large (one-year)
• Major, year in school, age: Romance languages, sophomore, 19
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
LK: To help PFC be more integrative of the international students and the student union. Those are the students that are not targeted highly enough, and with their involvement, we will be able to more connect the ASUO. It needs to be more inclusive … of the minorities specifically.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
LK: I’ve been an ASUO intern this past fall term and also this past winter term, and I’m also now currently holding the executive and judicial liaison position. I’ve also gone to … Senate meetings.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student incidental fee?
LK: The student incidental fee could be increased mainly because students should have more priority as to where the money goes.
ODE: What should the PFC do to enhance the ability of ASUO programs to serve students?
LK: They should be a more accessible committee. Venturing out to even going to personal program meetings.
ODE: Under what circumstances should students receive ASUO funding to participate in off-campus conferences?
LK: They should receive a pretty decent amount of funding. At least $15,000 could probably be allotted for conferences just because of the amount of leadership skills they build and the network skills that are built over those.
ODE: So are you saying that you would set aside only $15,000 to fund conferences?
LK: No, that was just an approximate number.
ODE: What do you think are the circumstances that conferences should receive funding?
LK: If there is some sort of training that can be brought back to the campus and used.
 

Rachel Koppes

• Desired position: PFC at-large (two-year)
• Major, year in school, age: Journalism: public relations, sophomore, 19
• Criminal activity charges: none

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
RK: We really place a lot of value in working on the incidental fee. My favorite part of our platform is working on campus cohesiveness. Students don’t know a lot about the ASUO, and the most important part is to reach out to the student body.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
RK: I am in many of the organizations that receive their funding from the ASUO. One is the Panhellenic Council. The other is the Public Relations Student Society of America. I can come with an objective approach, knowing what it’s like to be in a smaller organization and a bigger organization. I’ve had a lot of leadership opportunities through my sorority Delta Gamma and various other clubs.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student incidental fee?
RK: We want to take that burden off of students. We feel that it could be allocated in a much more effective way that would be more relevant to students.
ODE: What should the PFC do to enhance the ability of ASUO programs to serve students?
RK: We definitely are going to work on creating a more comprehensive student programs manual that will make it easier for student programs to seek higher funding. We’re also going to have an annual student program fair.
ODE: Under what circumstances should students receive ASUO funding to participate in off-campus conferences?
RK: We would deal with programs on a case-by-case basis.

Stephanie Tuski

• Desired position: DFC at-large (one-year)
• Major, year in school, age: Business and Japanese, sophomore, 19
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
ST: Reality Check wants to practice responsible spending. We also want to increase the amount of student tickets available and student parking available. We also want to make sure that the EMU is in line with the 2020 Initiative.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
ST: The double major … has given me a lot of experience with finances and budgeting. Also, I’m just really motivated and eager to work for the students and make sure they get the most for their money.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student incidental fee?
ST: It’s high. I support all the programs that the student incidental fee supports. I don’t wish for the student incidental fee to grow in size.
ODE: Do you think more departments should remove themselves from the incidental fee, as the Career Center has done, and why?
ST: Yes. Campus Recycling should remove itself from the incidental fee and move toward being funded by the administration. This will allow us to enhance other programs.
ODE: What impact will the falling UO budget have on the ASUO’s funding of departments?
ST: The current funding we’re giving departments, I support that to continue, but with the hopes that Campus Recycling is moved off that so we can have more of that money allocated toward other departments.
 
Matt Gander

• Desired position: DFC at-large (two-year)
• Major, year in school, age: History and political science, junior, 21
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
MG: Essentially what I want to do is make it so the programs or the departments we already have are running more efficiently by reducing the amount of overlap that the departments have and exposing different ways that the smaller programs on campus can expand their reach and become more efficient.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
MG: I’ve done debate for three years in college and four years in high school. I also read the news and am really into studying the different ways that decision-making bodies formulate policies and come to decisions.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student incidental fee?
MG: The student incidental fee is a great part of the University. It’s critical to enhancing the curricular options that the University offers and … a necessary way to bring students together outside the classroom.
ODE: Do you think more departments should remove themselves from the incidental fee, as the Career Center has done, and why?
MG: That depends on the department largely and the circumstances with which it’s wanting to make that decision. But I think ultimately … the departments we have now serve a critical service to the University and should remain.
ODE: What impact will the falling UO budget have on the ASUO’s funding
of departments?
MG: Things like the i-fee are important to continue because they allow the institution to fill in gaps when funding mechanisms from other sources can’t.
 

Eric Cole

• Desired position: ACFC at-large (one-year)
• Major, year in school, age: Political science and ethnic studies, 2nd year, 20
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
EC: I want to ensure that the University of Oregon is as accessible as possible for students of all backgrounds. I want to ensure that the University has a student government that makes students feel comfortable coming to them. I want … to ensure that the University of Oregon has a unified, safe campus with a unified, safe community.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
EC: In high school, I had the general sort of leadership training; I was captain of the speech and debate team, captain of the tennis team … but I think more specifically what qualifies me for this position is my genuine enthusiasm for … the sort of discourses I’d be entering into.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student
incidental fee?
EC: The size of the incidental fee is about right.
ODE: Should OSPIRG return to campus? If not, why not? If so, where would the money to fund it come from?
EC: I feel that some support for OSPIRG, because of the opportunities it does present students on campus, is absolutely necessary. It’s absolutely unrealistic to offer this group full funding.
ODE: How can the ASUO deal with LTD more effectively?
EC: This year, the negotiations have been fantastic. Keeping LTD in that contract (and) … maintaining that level of service is important.

Chrissy Erguiza

• Desired position: ACFC at-large (two-year)
• Major, year in school, age: Political science, sophomore, 20
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
CE: Campus Change Coalition … We have three main points, which are safety, sustainability and community building.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
CE: I have worked with the Kerry campaign … as well as the Barack Obama campaign. I’ve also been ASB president back at my old high school, at Willamette High School, my junior and senior year.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student incidental fee?
CE: I’m not able to comment on that.
ODE: Should OSPIRG return to campus? If so, where would the money to fund it
come from?
CE: Yes, OSPIRG should come back to campus. A lot of their platforms I think agree with what the University of Oregon strives to be. The University of Oregon strives to be a very green place. I would probably negotiate with the student government to see how we would (fund OSPIRG). The money could just be grassroots campaigning.
ODE: How can the ASUO deal with LTD more effectively?
CE: We need to know how to, obviously, budget first because that was the main problem.
 

Noah Wolf-Prusan

• Desired position: PFC at-large (one-year)
• Major, year in school, age: English, sophomore, 20
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
NWP: I really can’t have a platform in terms of coming into the position and trying to change anything drastically … or like, doing something to make change in the program-finance world, considering I am not entirely in the program-finance world yet. But mostly it’s to really just offer a good, human resource to my fellow classmates to make the best effort I can to make the best committee member I can possibly be.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
NWP: I’ve ran many student programs. Last year I was a vice president of a huge youth organization nationally. I worked with budgets.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student incidental fee?
NWP: I find that the purpose of the incidental fee is wonderful. It funds so many wonderful programs that we have. Not knowing the number specifically, I can’t say whether or not I agree with the size. I’d really rather it not be so expensive. There’s some expenses that can be lessened. I don’t find it needs to be enlarged. I don’t think there’s an entire demand from the student body that we should be paying more so that the programs can still maintain the status quo. But as is, I think it’s great.
ODE: What should the PFC do to enhance the ability of ASUO programs to serve students?
NWP: Everything they possibly can. Make sure they are even more prepared than the Senate when they go forward with the budget benchmarks.
ODE: Under what circumstances should students receive ASUO funding to participate in off-campus conferences?
NWP: Only if … from those conferences the students can bring back tangible benefits to the community.
 

Katherine Stover

• Desired position: PFC at-large (two-year)
• Major, year in school, age: Political science, junior, 19
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
KS: Our three main things are campus safety, and … I’m most interested in the community one. I’m really excited about things like putting a really easily accessed calendar of events on the Web site.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
KS: I have experience working tutoring kids, so I’m really good at managing my time and being responsible. I’ve worked with some non-profits, like Breakthrough Manchester, where we had to deal with budget and funding and allocating resources, so I’m really comfortable
with that.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student
incidental fee?
KS: Its purpose to fund student programs and services is really key. Access to programs is crucial, especially in a campus as big as U of O where students don’t really have a chance to access
leadership skills.
ODE: What should the PFC do to enhance the ability of ASUO programs to
serve students?
KS: Really working with all varieties of student programs to ensure that they’re getting fair funding and listening to students all across campus who maybe aren’t so involved to see what they think.
ODE: Under
what circumstances should students receive ASUO funding to participate in off-campus conferences?
KS: It depends on how the student body feels about it, about how they want their student fees used and if they’re OK with advocates going off campus, and also how much the results of that advocacy is seen on campus.
 

Nick Warren

• Desired position: DFC at-large (one-year)
• Major, year in school, age: Political science, freshman, 18
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
NW: I’m running with 3C. They want to increase the green fund. I also like the idea of increasing safety and spirit on campus. Safety: We want to increase the money that goes toward DPS and APS. As for spirit … We want to have more of a public forum so that really University students can get their voices heard on campus.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
NW: I worked with numerous campaigns and organizations here on campus this year. I worked on ASB … out of my old high school. I was also Earth Club president, and SOAP Club, which stands for Students Organized Against Prejudice, vice president. Here on campus I’ve worked with Climate Justice League (and) OSPIRG.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student incidental fee?
NW: To me, it’s economic. By combining your resources, you’re able to harness much higher power per student. The student incidental fee … should be used how students want it to be used. If there’s some kind of a need that students perceive, then it should be raised … The size of it, I like right now … It can always be reduced to become more efficient.
ODE: Do you think more departments should remove themselves from the incidental fee, as the Career Center has done, and why?
NW: That would be great. Campus Recycling … should be taken over by the U of O, as opposed to by the student incidental fee.
ODE: What impact will the falling UO budget have on the ASUO’s funding of departments?
NW: We are going to have an easier time meeting our benchmark, but we still should try to achieve lowest cost possible for the departments, with still funding them as fully as possible so they can be efficient.
 

Robert Greene

• Desired position: DFC at-large (two-year)
• Major, year in school, age: Political science, sophomore, 19
• Criminal activity charges: None

ODE: Briefly explain your platform.
RG: Campus Change Coalition. Our sort of platform is to bring the campus together with a more unified position. We want to have a student government that is all-inclusive.
ODE: What qualities and experience qualify you for the position you’re seeking?
RG: I started off in the Voter Registration Drive, being sort of a prominent volunteer. I then got involved in the internship program and was working under the legislative affairs position last year. I unofficially took over that executive position. My current position … on the executive staff is federal affairs coordinator. I am a founding father of the new Sigma Nu chapter on our campus.
ODE: What are your thoughts on the purpose and size of the student incidental fee?
RG: It should stay where it is right now. Constantly upping the fees is usually not always with students’ best interests in mind, unless they are going very specifically to a cause that will benefit the campus as a whole and, you know, the greater community beyond
the campus.
(Time expired before Greene could answer all questions).