Last night there was a Q&A session with the ASUO executive candidates held in Lillis 282. Unfortunately, the only people who attended were candidates from the various slates and a couple of reporters. Oddly, it was a moderated session, and audience members were not allowed to ask questions.

Audience members were, however, given the opportunity to answer questions about how they felt about student government via weird clicking devices. (Of course, this resulted in about ten minutes of figuring out how to use said clicking devices, replacing dead clicking devices, etc.) In short, it was like a microcosm of student government – non-existent student involvement, rampant technical errors, lots of giggling.

There were, however, some bright spots in the meeting. All of the candidates expressed a desire to overhaul the horrific ASUO website and improve access and transparency in general.

Michelle Haley and Ted Sebastian, the Oregon Action Team candidates, talked about renovating the EMU and the Oregon 2020 plan.

Carina Miller and Nick Gower from the Students First campaign mentioned setting up student advisory councils in each department. (The AAA and PPPM departments already have such councils, which act like intermediary’s between the students and their department.)

Other good moments included exec candidates Ryan McCarrel and Ian Baldwin, whom many have dubbed the Ron Paul of the ASUO elections, chiding the other candidates for turning the elections into “political theater.”

There will be more information on the slates’ specific platfoms soon. I’ve finished interviewing all of the exec candidates, and I’ll put up the transcripts on the blog. (They will also be appearing in the elections issue, which is going off to the printer on Sunday, so be on the lookout!)

Well, today marks the end of week one of the ASUO elections circus. And we do mean circus. For example, you might have noticed the True Blue slate’s concert and juggling extravaganza on Wednesday.

Not to be outdone, the Oregon Action Team slate somehow got the duck mascot to appear in an OAT shirt:

Of course, the athletic department is none too happy about this. (Nor are the other slates, I imagine.) You can see pictures from both these events on our Flickr feed. (Thanks to photographer Ross Coyle for the great work.)

Also, Michelle Haley, ASUO Exec candidate for the Oregon Action Team slate (and Commentator contributor) informed me that the the elections board has forbidden the OAT from distributing packs of ramen noodles emblazoned with the OAT logo, saying it’s bribery.

Which is funny because the posters that the OAT are allowed to give away cost more to print than a pack of ramen. Of course, there’s still a long ways to go before elections get as absurd as last year.

Grievance count remains at zero, but the duck mascot fiasco is sure to reel in one or two. I’m officially setting the over/under at seven. Whoever gets closest wins a Sudsy t-shirt.

As an addendum to Vincent’s post below, I’d also like to note that the Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee is considering reinstating sobriety checkpoints. They’d have to amend the state constitution, requiring (yet another) ballot initiative. That’s because in 1987 the Oregon Supreme Court declared sobriety checkpoints unconstitutional, citing “unreasonable search and seizure” or, y’know, whatever.

Along with the ill-considered bicycle registration idea, Oregon now has a trifecta of completely asinine legislation.

For decades, people have been bemused by the fact that adults under the age of 21 can, in the United States, buy a lottery ticket, smoke tobacco, and even die for their country — but they can’t consume alcohol. Carefully noting this inequity, Oregon legislators have decided to rectify the situation by attempting to raise the legal smoking age to match the drinking age. Not only that, but one of the bill’s co-sponsors wants to make nicotine available by prescription only.

I’d like to say that I don’t think this has a chance of passing, but given the legislative successes that the anti-tobacco crowd has enjoyed of late, I think I’d be premature in doing so.

In related news, the Oregon Commentator will be holding its Second Annual Great American Smoke-In sometime during Spring Term (preferably when the weather gets a bit nicer). Watch this space and keep an eye on the magazine for details.

(via Radley Balko)