There’s a strong portion of the population that adhere to this mentality when discussing government: Don’t trust it. Or, to play it even safer, just outright hate it. It’s a problem that the majority of governments have to deal with, including the Associated Students of the University of Oregon.
Even though the ASUO is a student-led government, its members will deal with approximately $15.5 million this fiscal year, including the $700,000 in reserve.
These funds are dispersed out to the four finance committees, who then disperse the money to the programs and contracts the committees oversee. According to ASUO Finance Director Andy Coyle, $6.4 million of the budget goes to the EMU Board and $1 million to Departments Finance Committee. The Programs Finance Committee will receive $2.4 million, and the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee gets $4.5 million.
Within the ACFC, $1.7 million is put toward getting students tickets to all of UO’s athletic events, and the remaining $2.8 million are for other contracts, such as letting all UO students ride the LTD bus for free.
“Just within the PFC alone, there are over 130 student programs that’s funded through us,” Coyle said. “That includes everything from the Arab Student Union to the Art History Association.”
UO junior Jacob Hoyt says that the amount of the budget isn’t surprising but believes that government budgets need to be transparent.
“There’s always improvement for transparency,” Hoyt said. Hoyt believes that no information about a government should be withheld, especially a government ran by students. “If it’s not fully transparent, then it isn’t really at all.”
ASUO Senator Taylor Allison agrees with Hoyt’s response in some respects, saying that there’s always room for improvement.
“When I was just a student and didn’t know what the ASUO was, I related in the same way,” Allison said.
Allison says that the most important way the ASUO can become more transparent is through the ASUO’s website. The site went under an overhaul last year and now makes all the documents for special requests available, as well as the minutes for every senate meeting.
Outside of reading the documents and agendas that are available through the website, you can also learn how the ASUO works by participating through programs offered to every UO student. The ASUO offers multiple internship opportunities but also programs that don’t deal with politics, such as volunteering for the UO Sustainability Center through the ASUO.
Hoyt says that the best way to approach any government is from a distance. Perhaps that’s the best way to approach government for some, but it might be more useful to get involved and learn more about your government so you can try and create change instead of feeling constantly unsettled.