In its mission, the ASUO promises to work for “individual and collective interests both within and without the university,” but OSPIRG critics say, “the incidental fee is not for saving the world.”
Why? We pay $195 each term, over $20 to student tickets alone. Why can’t $1.90 go to “saving the world,” if that’s what a significant portion of students desire? Is impacting our world really just a tangential goal?
I live and study here. OSPIRG pushes to make my home cleaner through land-use laws, chemical disclosure and clean-up acts and recycling programs. Like many students, I have private loans. OSPIRG fights for reform of lending institutions, privacy protection and better loan options. Fortunately, I have health insurance; many students don’t. OSPIRG advocates for health care transparency and affordability.
Are the most visible services the only ones with merit? Does a service lose its value if I can’t hold it in my hand?
The accomplishments OSPIRG has been able to achieve for students are incredible. They’ve signed over 2,000 faculty across the country to commit to open source textbooks, and have been lauded by congressmen as leaders in reforming the textbook market. It’s a limited vision that points to the 500-person global warming conference OSPIRG helped organize on campus, or the 50 professors on campus they’ve signed on to open source textbooks as their only accomplishments. What they are able to do with my $1.90 per term is beyond the four walls of the university, and still directly impacts all students’ lives.
I’m glad part of my incidental fee allows me to ride the LTD to campus, grab a copy of the ODE or The New York Times, and read about the local, state and national issues that impact me daily. I’d be equally glad if — for another $1.90 — my peers and I, with the support of professional staff, could continue having our voices heard by the people who make the decisions I read about in my newspaper.
We have a choice: sip a cup of coffee every day and passively read the newspaper, or skip the coffee once per term and take an active role in changing the headlines we read.
Oregon Daily Emerald > Opinion
Small price, big results: $1.90 per term could bring OSPIRG back to campus
Letter to the editor
Published: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Slideshow from the Prefontaine Classic
19 comments
It's funny that you say OSPIRG is "dead this year and it will be dead forever on this campus" because, even without UO student funding, OSPIRG has been active on this campus all year. How is this possible? With funding from other Oregon PIRGs (SOU, LCC, etc.) and the state OSPIRG. I don't know what students should be more concerned about: that UO students' money would be sent off campus if allocated to OSPIRG, or that students' money from other campuses are coming to our campus for this OSPIRG. Either way, I wouldn't expect this OSPIRG to disappear quietly: throughout their history on campus, they have repeatedly been funded and defunded, so I doubt this debate will end anytime soon...
And a 500 person conference and a list of signatures from professors seems like a pretty weak return on investment. For example, the law school just hosted an environmental conference that last weekend (PIELC) that drew over 2000 folks. Perhaps OSPIRG could ask them for pointers on how to pull off a successful student-run conference that doesn't cost everyone at UO $1.90 and require the help of staff up in Portland.
I would love to talk to you more about open source textbooks and possible switching if you are interested.please feel free to email me at denson(at)uoregon(dot)edu