ASOSU Representatives pass two resolutions

With a red square freshly pinned to his lapel, Speaker of the House Jacob Vandever announced the passing of the “Resolution to Oppose Tuition Hikes.” The resolution was introduced to the House last week by graduate representative Matthew Palm and voted on Tuesday night, passing 15-0-0.

In opposition to future tuition hikes here on campus, the resolution is asking the university to stand behind ASOSU in requesting the state to follow the $850 million proposal put forth by the Oregon University System.

Currently, Governor Kitzhaber has proposed a $750 million budget for OUS, but this is directly being opposed by ASOSU.

“[OSU] is a state school for affordable, accessible, education for all,” Palm said. “And we are slowly inching away from that.”

According to Palm, the difference of $100 million between OUS’s request and the Governor’s proposal would mean an eight percent tuition hike pending no major cuts by OSU. The passing of an $850 million budget will not even freeze tuition, but increase it by only three percent.

The legislation contains reasoning behind the request by ASOSU, the first three sections saying:
“WHEREAS: Oregon spends $4,331 per student on its two major research institutions and, WHEREAS: this puts us 46th in the nation among states in terms of research institution funding per student and, WHEREAS: the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Oregon an ‘F’ for higher education affordability ...”.

The resolution closes out by addressing issues with mandatory minimum sentencing, saying the proposed prison budget by the governor “remains several hundred million dollars greater than the baseline state funding proposed for the Oregon University System.”

According to Palm, the projected budget for mandatory minimum sentencing will have to increase by $600 million to the prison system ­— double its current position.

The second piece of legislation brought forth to the House of Representatives, “Resolution for Student Involvement in First Year Experience,” was tabled for next week. The resolution was introduced last week in response to this term’s first town hall, when students, many from the Greek community, expressed their desire for student involvement in the First Year Experience plan.

Larry Roper, Vice President of Student Affairs, will attend next week’s Senate meeting to provide clarification and discuss the First Year Experience plan with ASOSU and students who wish to attend. Because of this, the House chose to table the bill for next week’s meeting.

The third and final piece of legislation, the “Friendly Neighborhood Speaker Act” was a small clarification in the contact information of the Elections Committee. The email address originally was given as the House and will be changed to the election committee.

After two unanimous votes and one tabling, the meeting wrapped up with a series of announcements for SIFC meetings and next week’s all-officer meeting.

Vice President Dan Cushing announced the rally for #WearTheSquare, which will be Monday, Feb. 4 in the MU Quad. Cushing said all students are welcome to help support the fight against tuition increases proposed by the university and are invited to Monday’s rally.

Ricky Zipp, news reporter
news@dailybarometer.com