The OC Blog Back Issues Our Mission Contact Us Masthead
Sudsy Wants You to Join the Oregon Commentator
 

Fools rush in

I wrote this in response to the Emeralds commentary titled “Surplus funds should be spent on endowment.” I sent it as a guest commentary two nights ago, so they either aren’t gonna run it, or I’m scooping them big time. Either way, up yours, MSM.

The Oregon Daily Emeralds editorial of 11/7/06 was very poorly considered on several points. First, it seems odd that the Emerald would choose to offer an editorial position on an “idea” for ASUO policy, before such a policy has even been officially proposed. Such an endorsement can hardly be credible, given that the reader does not receive the context, let alone a real debate on the quasi-proposed endowment in question. Rather, the editorial has chosen to ignore basic facts about the surplus, in favor of an unwavering commitment to an idea which as yet remains highly undefined.

Imagine the United States government running record surplus after record surplus, while taxes actually increase every year. Imagine a corporation which makes huge annual profit without giving a dividend to its investors. Although a million excuses exist to avoid thinking of it in such stark terms, the money was taken from fee-paying students, and ideally should be returned. As the editorial board notes, this cannot happen since the money is now in a state account, which means it’s never coming back out… even though the state gives out millions of dollars in tax “kicker” rebates every year.

The real problem with the Emeralds endorsement of the endowment concept is that it does so with no idea of what the endowment money would be used for. Perhaps the editorial board was so enthralled by the word “endowment” that it needed no further information about the use of the money before giving the idea a ringing endorsement. One example, six $5,000 scholarships, sounds good until discussion begins on how to implement this idea. Given the students Senate’s recent inability to pass comprehensive guidelines for its own operations, one can only wonder how effective they would be in creating truly fair guidelines for awarding these hypothetical scholarships.

ASUO politicians, like all politicians, love to wax eloquent on their commitment to improving the lives of their constituents, but as with all politicians, we must trust action, not words. Fees have now risen to over $200 per term, and our leaders are asking us to subsidize scholarships? If the ASUO were to use surplus money to establish a fund with which to finance a freeze or reduction of student fees for as long as possible, their rhetoric might have some substance behind it. Until they have a plan which actually benefits all students, the ASUO should not spend any of the surplus, and until the ASUO proposes a concrete plan, the Emerald should not rush to endorse half-baked ideas.

  1. Niedermeyer says:

    Oh snap.

    Yeah, I wasn’t on campus today, so I relied on their website to be, y’know… accurate. Serves me right for getting all self-righteous and new media-y.

  2. Jacque says:

    I saw it too…that’s odd… the ODE is so wierd…

  3. Jonathan Rosenberg says:

    While they did run your guest commentary today (pretty sure I saw it), they have pulled it from their website. If you search for it, you won’t find it – at least, I can’t find it.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.