VOL. CXVIII, NO. 111
DAILYBAROMETER.COM
VIRAL OUTBREAK ON CAMPUS See article, page 4
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016 OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
ASOSU voting open
JOSHUA LUCAS | THE DAILY BAROMETER
(Left) Brett Morgan and Rachel Grisham, (Middle) Christopher Willett and Tabitha Pitzer and (Right) Saul Boulanger and Chip Campbell make up the three president/vice president tickets in the Associated Students of Oregon State University general election this year. Voting opened online to students today, and will close Friday.
Online polls available to students from now until Friday night, all positions being voted on Rachel Grisham and Brett Morgan
Tabitha Pitzer and Christopher Willett
Saul Boulanger and Chip Campbell
By Riley Youngman
By Lauren Sluss
By Thomas Kelley
Three months ago, Brett Morgan, a junior double majoring in economics and environmental science, had no idea he’d be running for vice president of the ASOSU. Rachel Grisham, a senior in public health management and policy, had considered the possibility of running for a while, but hadn’t fully committed to the idea and was waiting for the ideal running mate. Yet a series of events brought the two together, and they are now on the ASOSU ballot. In addition to her main area of study, Grisham is also pursuing minors in business administration, French and political science. When not in the classroom, Grisham spends time serving as the president of her sorority, Sigma Delta Omega, and sits on the CAPS advisory board as the chair. Morgan came to OSU because he felt the university would provide him a good environment to get a multidisciplinary education between science and policy. Grisham is the executive director of Operations within ASOSU, and Morgan serves as a senator. Last year, Morgan was the executive director of government relations at ASOSU, and Grisham was the president pro tempore of the senate. Morgan currently sits on the Oregon State University Board of Trustees as the student representative, is the vice president of his fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi. “We have worked together for many years, usually flip flopping between the legislative and the executive branch,” Grisham said. “ASOSU is really efficient when all of the branches are working together. That is something that through our experiences together we are able to recognize and use.” Morgan said Grisham approached him with the offer to make real change and he couldn’t refuse. “She didn’t ask me because she wanted the resume builder, or the prestige or power, but she really thought we could do things together and trusted my judgment.” The two’s campaign is called Together OSU. “Our platform is a three pronged approach,” Grisham said. “We really wanted to keep it very specific so it translated into more concrete action oriented goals.” The three areas the tickets platform focuses on are affordability, inclusivity and community safety. Grisham explained that there are processes in place that would push for more open source textbooks, and she is pushing for this. “All these tools are there and laid out, they just need to be picked up and used,” Morgan said. The two envision half of all baccalaureate core class textbooks to be on this type of system by the end of winter term if they are elected. The two want to lower the pay grades that are set in the ASOSU statutes for various positions in student government, which would include their own if elected. Morgan said that their ticket wants to engage students by
For Tabitha Pitzer and Christopher Willett, running for ASOSU presidency and vice presidency is more than just an option, it is an obligation. “When I go out and talk to people, they don’t even know the student government exists,” Willett said. “We feel as though we need to make ASOSU seen and known. Through our platform, we want to unite the student body.” Pitzer and Willett’s platform, OSUNITE 2016, is centered on five different pieces—accessibility, affordability, campus safety and health, campus inclusivity and community and student engagement and advocacy. Pitzer is a sophomore in political science, and Willett is The platform for OSUNITE 2016 was inspired by the need to reconnect ASOSU with the student population, according to Pitzer. “A lot of students don’t feel connected to ASOSU, and that makes them feel like they can’t come to us if they have problems or need help advocating for themselves,” Pitzer said. “Something we want to do is to make ASOSU more involved in student groups, and to try to unite the student body and be seen as representatives and advocates for student groups.” Part of Pitzer and Willett’s goal includes reaching out to underrepresented portions of the student body, which is currently lacking in ASOSU now, according to Willett. “It’s obvious to see that the current student government is mainly full of cisgendered females or males in Greek life, which is only about 14 percent of the total student population here at Oregon State,” Willett said. “Student government is supposed to represent the students as a whole, and I do not see that at all. Our ticket is the only multicultural one that actually takes into considerations of both the majority and minority students here on campus.” Through direct communication with the student body, Pitzer and Willett are confident they would be able to shed light on minority issues, according to Willett. “I have this personality that allows me to really connect with people,” Willett said. “One thing that I like to do is go to events and ask people questions about their issues. I would take these answers and be able to bring these issues to the forefront so people could actually hear these stories.” Both Willett and Pitzer have had experience with directly communicating with students, which qualifies them for their positions, they said. “Within my position as current ASOSU Executive Director of Governmental Relations, I’ve seen exponential ways we can improve, and it’s made me feel like it’s the best way I can serve students directly,” Pitzer said. “I have exceeded expectations and previous records set by my predecessor, Brett Morgan.” Pitzer’s commitment to serving students has permeated into understanding and aiding marginalized communities, according to Pitzer’s personal friend Christian Mello.
One of the three tickets running for Presidency and Vice Presidency of the ASOSU is the duo of Saul Boulanger and Chip Campbell. Boulanger and Campbell originally met in a political science class, and wound up in Mock Trial together where they really became friends. The duo shared the ambition of running for office and decided to team up. Boulanger has held a seat in the ASOSU House of Representatives and was Speaker of the House for a year. The two are excited to work together. “Saul never ceases to amaze me - his knowledge of who’s who, the ins and outs and history of ASOSU,” Campbell said. “He’s really been a great running mate (...) he has filled in every gap for me.” Boulanger replied with a sincere, “Thanks man,” and a chuckle. “Chip’s smart and ambitious, I trust him a lot to be a good partner,” Boulanger said. Boulanger and Campbell are excited for the learning opportunity that holding these offices would give. They’re both interested in politics as a career, And their friend Aleia Kim, a senior studying biochemistry and biophysics, can attest. “I’ve never met anyone with as much work ethic as Saul,” she said. “And Chip, for all he needs to do, is doing a great job of catching up.” The duo believes their platform to be very important. They say students have a set of expectations for ASOSU President and Vice President. “Once in office, the students expect hard work, professionalism, and integrity,” their platform, which is available at the ASOSU’s website elections page, says. The duo says they plan on providing just that. The ticket’s main focus is on student costs. They plan on reducing tuition by working with the Oregon Student Association to get more students to vote. They hope that this will cause Salem to take students as a demographic more seriously, and provide more funding for OSU. Boulanger said that Oregon has some of the worst funding for higher education in the nation. “It represents a troubling trend in regards to higher education,” Boulanger said about the recent tuition increase approved by OSU’s board of trustees. “A trend in which students are treated like a bottomless ATM for the administration.” Boulanger commended the Students for Another Politics for showing up to protest the tuition increase. They plan to try to work with President Ed Ray and the OSU administrators to reduce bureaucratic and building costs on campus. In addition, the duo wants to work directly with legislators in Salem to reduce tuition rates. The duo wants to bring new affordably priced digital textbooks, that are set up similarly to open-source software, to OSU students. Boulanger believes that textbooks prices are
See Grisham/Morgan Page 3
See Pitzer/WillettPage 3
See Boulanger/Campbell Page 3
News Editor
IN THIS ISSUE
News Reporter
>>>
News Contributor
Noro virus possibly at OSU, NEWS, PAGE 4 Where are they now?, SPORTS, PAGE 5 Sign up for campus alert system, FORUM, PAGE 7