Oregon Daily Emerald: What’s your year and major?
Kevin Curtin: I’m a sophomore, political science major
Emerald: Are you involved with any groups at the University?
Curtin: Right now, I’m involved with the College Democrats. I was an intern with the ASUO my freshman year.
Emerald: What kind of stuff did you do as an intern?
Curtin: I was with the legislative team.
Emerald: Why are you interested in student government?
Curtin: I want our University to be a place for new ideas and public debate to ride. And I think many times the student voice isn’t heard. I want to make sure that happens.
Emerald: How will you figure out how to spend the surplus?
Curtin: Well, I’ll sit down and listen to the groups that want the surplus money or things like that. I’ll patiently listen to have they have to say. And once I’ve listened to what they have to say, I’ll make a vote based on what I believe is right.
Emerald: Is there any specific criteria that you’re always going to be looking for in a student group?
Curtin: Just the legitimacy of the student group, what they’re doing. How they’re expanding views on campus. Whether they’re helping make our campus a place where there is a diversity of views and there’s a lot of public debate, and what kind of stuff they’re doing with that money.
Emerald: How will you interact with student groups?
Curtin: Interact with student groups in terms of…
Emerald: Yeah. How will you interact with student groups in terms of keeping a relationship between the senate and the student groups, meeting with them, anything you have in mind.
Curtin: I just think to keep the avenues of communication open and to show respect to the different student groups, whether I personally disagree with what they’re doing or not. I would make my decision based upon what they’re actually doing with the money, and how they’re helping the University and University students overall.
Emerald: Do you plan to do anything in terms of meeting with student groups to hear their concerns or anything like that?
Curtin: Of course. As I learned as an intern with the ASUO, effective communication is very important and I believe I have the drive to go out and communicate with different student groups and students that I represent and fight for their views and concerns in the senate.
Emerald: What are the most important issues facing the student groups you’ll be representing?
Curtin:Just making sure their voice is heard, making sure students have an avenue to state their beliefs and opinions and concerns, and just to represent them in the senate.
Emerald: You say giving students an avenue to show their concerns. What do you think an effective way of allowing them that avenue? What is the avenue?
Curtin: First of all, I would communicate with my constituents, actively seek out my constituents and communicate with them, find out what their views and concerns are. And also, as an example, with the whole Iraq resolution, I don’t think that was handled very well. I think that we could’ve had a full-wide student vote as an avenue for student to voice their opinion.
Emerald: Is that something you’re going to be pursuing?
Curtin: Well, not just that issue specifically, but just have an avenue that students, on big issues, can actually voice their opinions.
Emerald: What would you say is the most important part of Section 5 of the Student Senate Rules and why?
Curtin: Section 5?
Emerald: Yes, that would be the student senate duties.
Curtin: The student senate duties?
Emerald: Yeah, duties as a senator.
Curtin: Oh, duties as a senator. I believe to be impartial and to make judgments upon the actual legitimacy of the different groups, and to make a decision upon that rather than just what I would want to be a part of or what I would want to see on campus, to respect their opinions and make my decision based upon the overall good of the University.
Emerald: Anything else as a duty of a student senator that you feel is important?
Curtin: Protecting the incidental fees to make sure that they’re not misused.
Emerald: How do you plan to do that?
Curtin: Just fairly listening to different groups and seeing if they’re doing things that are helping the student body overall, and allocating the money to the things that will benefit the students overall more than just a few students.