Chairs outnumbered students two-to-one as ASUO Executive candidates debated in the cavernous EMU Ballroom on Monday evening.
Despite the event’s low attendance, the debate was quite lively, with six tickets and 11 total candidates espousing their views on how to run next year’s student government. One candidate, Jeremy Jones, even had a Secret Service-esque bodyguard, who unfortunately failed to protect him during a mock assassination attempt at the end of the two-hour debate session.

All the other executive hopefuls stressed the importance of amplifying students’ ideas and concerns through the megaphone of student government to influence University administrators and Salem legislators, but they had slightly varied ideas on how to
accomplish this annual goal.
John Drake and Joe Boyd said the ASUO needs to actively seek out student groups, not just be more “approachable,” in order to be a champion for student interests. They added that they would use e-mail to communicate to the student body the accomplishments of the ASUO.
Aspiring emperor Jeremy L. Jones stated that listening to students’ concerns and ideas was not important, and students would not be acknowledged under his regime.
“I know what’s the best for students. I am the leader of destiny, hope for mankind,” Jones said, adding that he hoped to soon recapture Oregon State University to unite his kingdom.
Maddy Melton and Eddy Morales said that in order to understand the varied concerns of a diverse student population, focus groups would be a useful tool in determining how to meet students’ needs and demands.
The two also mentioned that some student populations do not receive enough recognition or assistance, such as law students and international students. They said they would remedy the situation by creating an executive position as an advocate for those students.
Christa Shively and Greg Bae advocated for the start of an ASUO bi-weekly column to focus University members’ attention on student government efforts on behalf of students.
Shively drew on her experience with the EMU Board to advocate the “crucial checks and balances” of student government. She said the executive should carefully monitor the growth of fees and use the position as a way of monitoring the way the fee is spent by the legislative branch of student government.
Pierre Spence and Jack Mantel said ASUO can be more helpful to students by going to student group meetings, talking with people and gathering feedback from everyone they talk to. Spence added that diversity is of the utmost importance on a college campus, and he seemed to be the least nervous candidate despite the stress of the stage. He even used a Jolly Rancher analogy to explain the value of diversity.
Jarrett White and Greg McNeill strayed from the conventional election promises of increasing diversity or establishing community, and instead argued for the creation of a Student Bill of Rights, which the duo said would greatly empower student voices. McNeill agreed that focus groups would be a helpful way to measure student feelings on various campus issues, and then bring those issues to the attention of University administrators.
“Administrators don’t know students’ concerns until they’re sitting and protesting on the steps of Johnson Hall,” McNeill said.
Audience members were permitted to ask questions of the candidates, and many addressed specific concerns.
One audience member challenged the legislative expertise of the 11 students running for executive office by asking them to name two state issues and one national issue that are facing students.
Melton and Morales and Shively and Bae were the only executive tickets that offered specific examples, such as Oregon Senate Bill 10, which would increase access to higher education by allowing students whose parents are not U.S. citizens but have lived here for three years and have high school diplomas to pay resident tuition.
Students can cast a vote for their favorite candidate in the ASUO primary election Wednesday morning when the polls open online on DuckWeb. Voting continues throughout the week, and results will be tabulated shortly after polls close at 5 p.m. on Friday.