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Disgrace

First of all, fuck you Sophie Luthin. Not only are you bringing disgrace to all Sophie’s everywhere, you are doing stupid bullshit that I now have to blog about and wasting time that should be devoted to studying the implications of psychology within the legal system.

Sophie “da Sneak” Luthin is the campaign manager for Ben Bowden and Lamar Wise, and she has been accused two fuck-ups. One is starting the campaign before midnight on April 2nd. The second is the manner of this pre-campaigning, where in students were lead to believe that if they were signing a petition in support of more football tickets for students (Go Ducks!) but in reality it was a contact info gathering scheme for Bowman and Wise’s campaign. Fucking stupid. Jena Langham, who filed the grievance, is asking for Sophie’s removal from the campaign.

All the details are below, and since Cedar ignored it, it’s going to Con Court and won’t be dealt with ’til after Spring Break. Cool.

1. Name of person against whom the complaint is filed.

Sophie Luthin (hereinafter “Sophie”) – Campaign Manager for Ben Bowman and
Lamar Wise

2. The questions presented for review.
Whether Sophie and her slate have started campaigning before 12:01 a.m. on April 2,
2012

3. The rule violated
Election Rule 5.6: no campaigning may begin until 12:01 a.m. on April 2, 2012

Campaigning is defined in Election Rule 1.14: the distribution of information or materials
which may cause awareness, advocacy, promotion or opposition towards a specific
candidate, campaign, campaign committee, or ballot measure in a public space and with
the intention of soliciting a vote. This includes but is not limited to websites, social
media networks, brochures, pamphlets, posters, fliers, apparel, print media, and word of
mouth.

4. A brief statement of facts giving rise to the complaint.

General Facts

1. Sophie is the campaign manager for Ben Bowman’s presidential campaign. Proof:
ASUO Candidate registration list

2. Sophie was behind of the effort to gather information cards. Proof: Sophie’s name is
on the receipt, demonstrating the photocopies of these cards were made in Sophie’s
name for Sophie’s campaign. This is the last photo of the last page.

3. The information cards (second-to-last picture) are used to collect people’s contact
information. Proof: First picture on the last page.

4. People are led to believe that they are signing a petition in favor of more football
tickets, when in reality they are giving Sophie’s campaign their contact information so
Sophie’s campaign can cold call them during elections asking for their vote.

Proof: When asked, solicitors of the cards have mentioned Ben Bowman and
members of his campaign as points of contact. They have said things like “Ben
Bowman is a part of our group,” “if you want more information I can give you
Ben’s email,” “you should talk to Andrew Lubash for more information,” and “if
you give us pizza, we will work for your campaign too.”

Andrew Lubash is also a campaign manager for Ben Bowman’s presidential campaign.
Proof: ASUO Candidate registration list

5. The information cards are not involved with any other ASUO entity and are not an
ASUO-endorsed campaign. Proof: Testimonies in Appendix 1. Furthermore, Sophie’s
position within the ASUO is Environmental Advocate, so she cannot claim that getting
photocopies for such a campaign is part of her job description. Proof: ASUO Executive
page

5. The Remedy Requested

Petitioner requests the Elections Board remove Sophie from her position as

Campaign Manager for Ben Bowman’s campaign, effective immediately. Sophie

has undermined the fairness of elections by starting early, similar to a runner

getting a head start in a race. The remedy should be the same in this situation:

disqualification.

Appendix 1

Testimonies in support of the blue cards being directly related to Ben Bowman

From: Maddy Robinson –

A student was approached by the “street teamer” and asked, “Hey do you have a minute?
I want to ask you about an increase in student football tickets.” She responded, “Sure!”
She was handed a form and asked to fill it out in support of an increase of student tickets.
She asked, “So where is this information going to.” He responded, “It will go toward
an increase in student football tickets” She responded, “Yes, but where is that going to
come from.” He hesitated and answered, “Uhhhh, ACFC I think.” She responded, “Oh
so I’m confused, isn’t Ben Bowman the president of ACFC? And didn’t he vote for
a 0% increase for student tickets and a 97% increase in funds for OSPIRG recently.”
The “street teamer” mumbled something in response. The student asked, “Are you
working with Ben and Lamar,” and he responded “Uhhhhh” with a look of shock on his
face and shook his head. The student grabbed one of the handouts and the street teamer
yelled after her, “For the record, I didn’t answer that question.”

Testimonies in support that the cards are not directly related to an ASUO-endorsed
campaign:

From: Ryan McNamara – Vice President of Pit Crew – Senior-

I was walking on campus on Friday, March 9, and two people handing out blue flyers
approached me. When I was stopped I asked what it was for, one stated that it was for
more football tickets. I was hesitant because I do not like giving away my email and
phone number on campus. To try to convince me the other chimed in saying that they
just got Kenjon Barner to sign one.

From: Gabo Allstock –

It was a traditional lazy Saturday consisting of sitting in front of the television
and “vegging” out. Unexpectedly, I hear a knock at my door. I unwillingly get up to
answer it, and look through the peephole to notice two kids whom I do not know. When I
answer the door, they started what was clearly a practiced story asking me if I want more
student football tickets. Before they could get too far into things I cut them off saying “I
already signed one of those yesterday on campus.” They were happy to hear my response
and asked if I had any roommates that would like to sign one too. I told them they were
not home and they reacted very kindly, thanked me, and walked off. I did not really think
anything at all of the interaction and went back to watching whatever reality show I was
previously watching. I later came to find out that they were actually students working
on an ASUO election campaign, and connected the dots that they were canvassing the
neighborhood for signatures. Never did the students tell me who they were working
for, what their cause was, or really anything at all, about what I was signing except the
infamous election tagline “do you want more student football tickets?” I am discouraged

to hear that this ASUO campaign is tricking students into supporting them when the
campaign season has not started yet.

From: Paige Jeffery – (925) 457-4191

While walking through the center of campus on 13th Ave, I have been immediately
approached by individuals asking if I want more football tickets. To any student, this
question would seem intriguing. However, when I asked about the organization they are
a part of or what the real story was, the only answer they had was, “it’s just a petition for
more tickets.” I signed this “petition”, but still, none of my questions were answered.

 

  1. Jacob says:

    And don’t forget that the Katie Taylor campaign was doing the same damn thing. Anyone who thinks they aren’t using those sexual assault petitions to gather phone numbers for cold calls are idiots.

  2. Damocles says:

    And Google-lanche it.

    Personally, I think Bowman and Wise should be thrown off the ballot and out of the election for this.

  3. Gsim says:

    This is my favorite thing about ASUO politics and the OC blog. Try getting a job when your unethical behavior has been immortalized on google forever.

    You should put Sophie Luthin’s name in the title next to disgrace so it looks worse in search results.

  4. Rebecca says:

    “da sneak”
    ahahahahah

    and Paige Jeffrey’s ma gurl

  5. Gunnar says:

    This comment is abusive and has been removed by the moderator.

  6. Gunnar says:

    Dang! I hope she fries in hell

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