The Commentary section (ODE, Feb. 26) displayed an illustration of the University Assembly lifting its nose to the students, along with words stating that students’ views would not be heard on the Iraq resolution this Friday because the University faculty didn’t care to hear from the students. This assertion is patently false. Students have not been given the opportunity to vote before the Assembly meeting only because their own representatives in the ASUO Senate and Executive refused to offer the students a ballot on the issue. I know this because I, along with Levi Strom (the only student senator who cared enough to try), met with ASUO President Rachel Pilliod and ASUO Elections Coordinator Andrea Hall in January to discuss ways for getting a ballot to the students in a timely manner before mid-March.
At the meeting, I was told by Pilliod and Hall that it would not be possible to get a ballot to the students before April, due to all of the red tape involved in putting a ballot out. This sounds to me like code for, “Yeah, you can try to get a ballot to the students if you want, but you’re not going to get any real help from the ASUO Student Senate or president.” I assert that this was the implied message because both the president and the senate had the power to offer the students a ballot on the Iraq Resolution, via a fast track process not available to a regular student like myself. And both Hall and Pilliod were aware of these fast track options. But your ASUO president and your Student Senate declined to use their power to let the students’ voices be heard on the Iraq Resolution.
So there you are. You, the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, have not been given the opportunity to vote directly on the Iraq resolution, not because the University faculty didn’t want to hear from you but because your own elected representatives couldn’t be bothered to offer you a ballot.
The best remedy left to you at this point would be to let your 48 student senators know how you feel about this issue, so that they might represent you properly when they vote at the Assembly Meeting this Friday (assuming that they’ll even bother to show up). You can visit your elected representatives at the ASUO office in the EMU. And remember when you go that everyone working in that office is working for you!