ASUO presidential candidate Thomas Tullis isn’t bashful about voicing his disapproval of OSPIRG. Nor is he afraid of writing about it.

In an article that Tullis wrote for the Oregon Commentator in February titled “Dirty Hippies: Take a Fucking Shower Instead of Our Money,” Tullis goes into great detail about his dissatisfaction with OSPIRG trying to gain funding through the ASUO. Four proposed ballots submitted to the ASUO  — which were eventually shot down by the University of Oregon administration and the ASUO Constitution Court — asked OSPIRG to be funded at $1.60 per student per term, so that they would be able to hire a professional staffer.

“It’s come to our attention here at The Oregon Commentator that OSPIRG is trying to work its dirty magic again,” Tullis wrote in his article. “They don’t seem to understand that we voted them out and that they are no longer recognized as a campus group. Yet they keep coming back like a hippie zombie that feeds on student money instead of brains.”

Tullis still stands by the article’s message.

“There were some suggestions from the editor to make the article speak more in the Oregon Commentator’s voice, but in the end it’s my name on the article, and I stand by what I wrote,” Tullis said.

Some of the suggestions that came from the Oregon Commentator’s editor, Martin Hallstrom included the title and the final line in the article, “Until next time. Go Ducks and fuck OSPIRG.”

“I edit the content, but I have dialogue with the writer, and it’s important that the message comes across as something that both the writer and the Commentator are in support of,” Hallstrom said. “The Commentator has been against OSPIRG as far back as 30 years, and we don’t do the politically correct process.”

Regardless of Tullis’ sentiments, OSPIRG exists on campus because of student support.

“The students last year voted that they wanted us on campus, and the majority of students want us here,” said Hannah Picknell, UO Chapter Chair for OSPIRG. “We want to be here for the students, and we’ll continue to have a presence on campus.”

Tullis’ primary argument in the article is that the $1.60 that OSPIRG asked to receive from each UO student was money that wasn’t worth giving to OSPIRG. According to Tullis, that money would be used to fund lobbyists who would endorse a political agenda in Salem and Washington D.C. that not every student at the UO is in support of.

“I can think of thousands of better ways to spend my $1.60 each term that keeps the money on campus instead of putting it in the pocket of some professional advocating in Salem and D.C. to save Crater Lake and to get big money out of politics,’” Tullis wrote in his article.

Tullis is in support of OSPIRG having a presence on campus, and if they want to have a UO voice outside of campus, then Tullis believes that they should send UO students, not a professional lobbyist.

“I think a lot of students see OSPIRG on campus, and they see it as a good thing, and I don’t look at their presence on campus as bad either,” Tullis said. “But if they want to have their opinions represented, then they need to represent themselves, and to not have a full salary lobbyist doing their job.”

A condensed version of the article can be found on the Oregon Commenator’s website, but the full article is only available in their February print issue.

Interested in more information about the ASUO 2014 elections? View all of our coverage here.