Editorial

Fear and Loathing in the Student Senate

You already know your student government wastes their time and your own. Usually it isn't quite this petty.

The last couple of months in the ASUO Student Senate have been rather like a CBS after-school special: drama, suspense, and a to-be-continued ending that leaves the few of us who pay attention crossing our fingers and holding out hope that they'll all hug and be friends once it's over. After all, isn't the Student Senate just one big group of smiling, happy people who run with noble goals like building bigger gymnasiums, using funds for beer gardens, and stopping the EPD from busting parties? Isn't the EMU Board Room, where the Senate meets weekly (7pm Wednesdays, open to the public), bustling with unbridled optimism? That is what the average voter's guide statement would lead us to believe, in any case.

Since the start of the school year, some seven student senators have resigned from their posts, many of whom ventured into student politics with both good intentions and little idea of the headache in store for them. Former Senator Andrew Schneider, who resigned as of the January 12 Senate meeting, came into the Senate expecting to improve student-police relationships - something the Senate is not responsible for. Former Senator Eric Pfeiffer accepted the nomination and was elected Ombudsman (the position responsible for handling grievances against senators) from within the Senate, intending to put personal relationships aside to make the Senate more accountable to students.

High turnover in the Student Senate is not unheard of, though in this case, the turnover situation is not just spinning out of control, but the wrong senators are resigning. A handful of unresolved grievances, allegations of corruption, and ill interpretations of the Green Tape Notebook (the all-important and no-less flawed student government rule book) have all played a role in the degradation of the 1999-2000 ASUO Senate.

A pair of grievances arising from accusations that several senators, including ASUO Executive candidate C.J. Gabbe, did not fulfill their duties over the summer session remain unresolved. The grievances, filed in November by former senator Autumn DePoe and student government watchdog Scott Austin, alleged that several senators did not hold office hours and tried to allocate money to a group not recognized by the ASUO.

Austin's grievance, the second filed, is virtually identical to DePoe's, save the addition of more defendants and that it was filed with the Constitution Court. Students filing grievances have the choice of filing with one of the three branches of the ASUO - the ASUO Executive, the ConCourt, or the Senate.

Since DePoe's grievance was filed within the Senate, the matter was to be handled by the Senate themselves, a tricky proposition for a legislative body not known for its honesty.

Then-Ombudsman Eric Pfeiffer recommended that the senators repay their summer stipends and hold extra office hours, and the Senate accepted the recommendation. The circumstances surrounding the fate of Pfeiffer's recommendation are contested by those involved; Senate president Jessica Timpany, named in both grievances, has agreed to a table discussion of the grievance until the Constitution Court can rule on Austin's grievance. The bulk of the recent spate of resignations took place within the time span of the meetings on January 12 and 19, the time surrounding the Senate's most recent discussion of the ongoing grievances. Austin's case, which he filed with the Constitution Court, has yet to be decided.

The duty of Ombudsman is obviously a tricky one - requiring an impartial, fairly aggressive personality to pass down an unbiased judgment on one's colleagues. As Timpany put it, "You have to be a really good asshole to do your job and make everybody happy."

By all accounts, Pfeiffer was that kind of asshole. Most interviewed said he was impartial, dignified, and conducted his investigation in a timely manner. However, other senators seemed to expect a certain leniency, including Pfeiffer's colleague and former housemate, Jereme Grzybowski, who was named in both grievances.

Grzybowski is a member of both OSPIRG and the now defunct Progressive Slate, two entities which hold a significant amount of sway in the ASUO. In November, former ASUO Multicultural Advocate Robert L. Wasson posted to the Oregon Daily Emerald message board, "The idea that Jereme Grzybowski was doing anything for the Senate, beyond preparing something for OSPIRG, is laughable at best."

Pfeiffer didn't cater to the demands of what has been dubbed the "power elite" and throw out the grievance, as has been done in the past. "People wanted him to throw out the grievance, because they're friends," said current Ombudsman Jennifer Greenough. "But [Pfeiffer] wanted to hold people responsible for their actions - or lack of action."

Among those responsible for keeping the Senate on task is the Constitution Court, which has been dealing with resignations of its own (due in greater part to impending graduation than personal differences), and as of yet have been unable to rule on Austin's grievance. In the case of DePoe's grievance, the Senate is still left with the burden of disciplining its own. This is something like telling a four-year-old to decide his own punishment: it just doesn't work.

At the Jan. 12 senate meeting, Senate President Jessica Timpany, without inviting any discussion from the other senators, attempted to throw out the recommendation made by Pfeiffer, doing so without following any sort of procedure for motion to reconsider. Hamlin said of her action, "I don't know what she was thinking. You can't say, 'I think you should dismiss this action against me.'" Other reports raise the suspicion that Hamlin had a greater involvement in the decision to dismiss the matter than publicly admitted.

Further compounding the situation is the extraordinarily high turnover rate in the Senate. "When senators start dropping like flies, that really says a lot," said Schneider. Though the Senate has had its share of empty seats in the past, this year's Senate is on a roll. The primary reasons given by the departing senators were largely personal: a reevaluation of priorities, or an increasing obligation to such things as grades, family, and work. However, this sudden evacuation of senate seats, along with resignations earlier this year and Grzybowski's break with Pfeiffer, sounds like something a little bigger than coincidence alone.

So, what causes a really good asshole like Pfeiffer, an idealistic mover-and-shaker like Schneider, and the other presumably hard-working senators to throw in the towel? Schneider explained to the Commentator, "When you have gridlock and political games that go on at a student government level, I can only imagine what it's like outside of student government. It's got to be ugly."

Pfeiffer felt that playing politics was the first priority of several senators, Progressive Slate members in particular. "People were into establishing power moves. I think they're so used to not being questioned that they don't stop to listen to what anyone's saying to them outside of their own little circle."

Spencer Hamlin, who ran last year on the P-Slate, had firsthand knowledge of the kind of influence the P-Slate holds over many members of the Senate. "Some people are afraid to go against the P-Slate kids. Some people think if you go against the majority of what the Slate is doing, then they're going to ostracize and hate you and try to fuck you over."

This control that an elite few hold over senators and especially new senators, is one of the major causes of diminishing interest in Student Senate. It could be a contributor to the initial lack of interest in this year's upcoming elections. Only after several extensions of the filing deadline had the majority of slots been filled.

For all the ASUO talks about involving students, they've spent as much time as possible alienating their constituency.

The honorable thing would obviously be for the offending senators, whose guilt is less a matter of fact but of degree, to repay the money as Pfeiffer recommended, and in certain cases, step down from office. That this will not happen is beyond certainty, though the ConCourt, historically more level-headed than any other branch of the ASUO, will have the final say.

So much for optimism.

Dakia Anheluk, an undeclared freshman, is attracted to bright, shiny objects