James Dos Santos, the ASUO Senate’s most recent addition, is a University senior majoring in political science and French. He originally ran against Alex
McCafferty for ASUO Senate Seat 7 (ACFC) in spring term 2008. McCafferty won the seat and went on to chair the finance committee and, eventually, the larger Senate.
Dos Santos was recently nominated and confirmed to ASUO Senate Seat 1, which means he’ll also work with the Programs Finance Committee to allocate money to programs recognized by the Programs Recognition Review Committee.
The Emerald caught up with Dos Santos to learn about the many programs he’s worked with at the University and find out his thoughts about the ASUO process.
Oregon Daily Emerald: How did you decide on coming to the University of Oregon?
James Dos Santos: I applied to a lot of different schools, 32, to be exact, and the U of O had me up for a full ride. I didn’t want to leave with any debt.
What did you do in high school before you came here?
National Honor Society; I volunteered at the District Attorney’s office; I played football and I worked a couple jobs.
I heard that the year before I came here that you ran for Senate on the Rock the Yellow ticket. Can you tell me a little bit about that experience and what made you decide to run for that seat?
That was interesting. The reason I ran for it was because I was an intern for the presidential candidate, Kari Herinckx, and the thing was, I had an awakening of fiscal politics, when you start to understand stuff and you say, “This should be changed, this should change.” Because, then, you think the University is for the students. So, I was only a freshman, but as I was developing, I thought I could change that through the Senate.
What do you think the ASUO’s role on campus should be?
Well, it’s supposed to enhance the cultural and physical body of the campus, and I think it should represent the students and student interests, and although a good amount of students don’t take part in the voting or selecting the people that might represent them, it’s still something that is very crucial to the life of a student.
What kind of programs have you worked on in the last couple years at the University?
Last couple years I’ve worked on the Muslim Student Association, as well as my job in the Holden Leadership Center as a peer leadership consultant, and I also worked at the Mills International Center as an outreach coordinator.
So a lot of my things have been focused on leadership, diversity and changing misconceptions.
We talked a second ago about things you see as problems you’ve seen in the ASUO. Do you think they are problems, and what are you going to do in your work as a senator to try to fix those problems?
I wouldn’t say that they’re problems, they’re more probably misconceptions … If you don’t agree (on an issue), you should be able to find some middle ground, instead of cutting down and saying a firm “No.” You should seek to understand everyone around you … In working with different groups, there have definitely been things that I didn’t agree with, or that maybe I would have done differently, but I’ve seen how to mediate those things.
How do you plan to hold office hours and how do you view them as a part of your role as a senator?
I plan to hold my hours in the Executive office. I’m working out my schedule for next term, but this term, it’s Thursdays and Fridays in the morning. But I think those are opportunities for the students or the groups interested in me personally understanding their financial system, because that’s going to be the main objective of next term, is budgeting.
There have been some clashes recently between Senate and the Executive on the floor, which a lot of people are assuming is because of senators being elected on one ticket and the Executive on the other ticket. Do you assume this to be the case?
I think it is something that you can look into. That’s kind of the thing with slates; once you’re actually in there, how much of your slate goes unopposed … I think with the clashes, it’s just been two different sides trying to approach one thing. You have a progressive, sustainable one, and then you have one that kind of wants to work in the campus community with the administration. … Slates do create a kind of identity that you have to hold and protect, but I think that can be overcome.
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