Editor’s note: Primary voting ends at 5 p.m. Thursday. Log in on DuckWeb to cast your ballot.
Some of the ballot measures in this year’s ASUO Elections have been gathering questions and confusion from students. Most are aimed at gathering student opinion and do not directly influence policy change. Here’s a breakdown of what each ballot measure means, per ASUO President Amelie Rousseau.
1. Should the ASUO fund the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) at a level that allows OSPIRG to hire professional staff to advocate on behalf of students locally, statewide, and nationally in places like the State legislature and Congress?
- Placed on the ballot independently
- This measure aims to gauge student support of funding OSPIRG using student fees through the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee. It does not represent an action vote because this will not ensure nor deny funding for OSPIRG.
- Most recently, the ASUO proposed taking $80,000 in excess funding from Lane Transit District to give to OSPIRG.
- ASUO Senate will hold a special meeting at 9 p.m. tonight to vote on the ACFC budget without OSPIRG. If the budget is accepted, that’s the end of the debate. If it’s rejected, ASUO President Amelie Rousseau will get to revise the budget herself before it gets submitted to University President Richard Lariviere for approval.
2. Should the ASUO’s combined major program budgets be capped at a 7 percent growth annually?
- Placed on the ballot by Rousseau and ASUO Vice President Maneesh Arora
- This ballot measure seeks support for a constitutional amendment to change the way the ASUO funds its four finance committees — Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee, Programs Finance Committee, Departments Finance Committee and EMU Board — with the mandatory student fee.
- Currently, each of the ASUO’s three program funding committees are not allowed to exceed 7 percent growth individually.
- This ballot measure would eliminate the individual growth cap for the committees and make it possible for the entire programs budget to grow by 7 percent total.
- That means the budget has the potential to grow by the same amount as it does now, but the chance of it growing as one lump sum is far greater than the chance of each of the four committees growing individually by 7 percent.
- Rousseau said having more coordination between committees would allow student groups to get the maximum amount of funding for student groups.
- She said that while ACFC’s budget has been growing, DFC’s budget has been shrinking, which means there would be more flexibility in allocating money to student groups.
3. Should the United States Postal Service reestablish a public post office on campus to provide affordable, accessible mail services?
- Placed on ballot by Rousseau and Arora
- On the ballot to gauge student interest in bringing the EMU Post Office back into service and how much students would use it.
- The Post Office was closed on Dec. 31, 2010, after the USPS deemed it financially nonviable.
- Since then, students have protested and petitioned legislative representatives with the help of the University Senate to get the EMU Post Office back.
4. Should the University of Oregon remain a public institution in which there is public accountability over the tuition setting process?
- Placed on ballot by Rousseau and Arora
- This ballot measure alludes to the New Partnership’s governance proposal that would set up a board independent from the state.
- Rousseau said the intent was to discover how much students know about the ongoing higher education reform conversation and how many students want to have elected officials overseeing tuition.
- “It is vague because we don’t want to make it about the New Partnership. It’s more a general concept about do we … see it as a public institution, is that something students value from going to this university,” Rousseau said.
5. Should the Department of Public Safety remain a department without sworn police officers or access to weapons including guns and Tasers?
- Placed on ballot by Rousseau and Arora
- This ballot measure is a question about student safety and jurisdiction.
- Rousseau said this has been a big policy issue for students and that she wants to gauge “how many people think DPS is doing a good job as they are.”
- Some students have voiced concerns about use of force and transparency of police intentions with becoming a sworn and armed force, as well as the increased budget it would require.
- Still, as DPS currently operates, officers cannot directly arrest people on campus, must call upon the Eugene Police Department in times of need and do not have off-campus jurisdiction. Most universities of this size have full police forces.
6. Should the ASUO Constitution be amended to allow the Senate Freshman Representative to be selected from the entire freshman class, appointed by the president, and mandate a deadline for appointment that allows the representative to be present for the majority of the budget process?
- Placed on ballot by Senate Rules Committee
- This ballot measure clarifies the freshman senator position added last year.
- Currently, the appointee must come from the ASUO intern class, which Rousseau said is limiting to the freshman class.
- The update would stipulate that if no intern is available nor interested, the position would be open to the entire freshman class.
- It also establishes that the freshman senator must be selected by the first ASUO finance committee benchmark hearing so that person can be fully involved with the budget process.
- Rousseau acknowledged that the current ballot measure wording was not quite clear.
“I’m trying to get that wording changed into the form of a question because it’s not very transparent,” Rousseau said.