It’s really not a bad ASUO, but I think there’re things you should know.
If I were in charge of the ASUO, this is how everything would go.
The idea is great — let’s see what students create.
But the issue is this: It’s all gone amiss. @@If you take issue with my lede, please do not change anything about it and just call me instead. We can work out anything together. — KO@@
In the past four years of ASUO politics, there have been a lot of interesting things happening. Two different presidential campaigns (here, and here) have been kicked off the elections ballot, one of which was put back on the ballot again afterward. The Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group has gone from full funding to no funding to partial funding to a funding level half again as high as it was when I started here in September 2008. Despite four years’ worth of campaign promises of lower tuition, I’ve seen mine go up 20 percent in my time at the University, with only my academics and hilariously poor upbringing saving me from a mountain of debt. @@http://ospirgstudents.org/@@
And despite having kept a pretty close watch on my student government, I haven’t felt like it’s represented me much at all.
There have been cool things here and there, sure. Having 24-hour library service is nice when you have to power through a 100-page research paper, for instance. Getting $50 back on tuition my freshman year was a pretty cool gesture. The spring concert last year was an interesting experience, too, as one of the few moments where I was, like, “Wow, cool, the ASUO is actually doing something for the average student!”
But by and large, like the first two paragraphs of this column, the ASUO — the student government with the largest budget in the country — has been a giant joke.
With stumble after stumble over basic things, I’m convinced that there’s nobody who actually knows what’s going on or what the rules are. The Senate can’t even figure out its own presidential situation, making multiple missteps and not even having quorum for its re-election of the same Lamar Wise who — just before — was removed from the role for nonfulfillment of duties. @@http://asuo.uoregon.edu/senate.php?a=30@@
The tenure of the current president, Ben Eckstein, is on shaky ground because of shady dealings involving his vice president, Katie Taylor, and her hidden husband, former OSPIRG state board chair Charles Denson. Hell, Eckstein’s election campaign violated rules left and right with no repercussion, and the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Eckstein’s financing — coming nearly a year later — is only for show, especially with all of the budgets already locked in. Taylor’s own presidential campaign involved a member of her slate, Manny Garcia, allegedly committing what amounts to a federal offense by phishing members of the other two campaigns running for president and manipulating their documents. @@http://asuo.uoregon.edu/executive.php?a=12@@
The Con Court, which conducts nearly all official business via email, hasn’t even been relevant on campus for the entire time I’ve been here — at least until the drama with Eckstein has come to a head. Now, it’s made a giant show of itself, trying to assert its power with seemingly no behavioral restraint.
And this ridiculous, soap-opera-level drama should never happen in the first place. The members of the student government need to be more accountable for knowing the rules — and following them — so students aren’t left disillusioned by the entire ASUO.
So, if I ran the ASUO, I’d run out on a rail the incompetent people who’ve dragged down the student government, as well as those who’ve made it more about them and their own personal interests than the students they supposedly represent. I’d make policies that actually helped out more students on campus.@@like?@@ I’d put a full-time, professional position in place just to make sure the students are actually following the rules — their own, mostly, but also those of the state and the country.
I’m all for student power when its use doesn’t go sour. Instead, its use is a wreck; nothing holds the ASUO in check.