The ASUO recently underwent a round of hires to fill a number of vacant seats in various areas of the association. Austin Palacios is one of these new appointees, selected by Executive and confirmed by Senate for a seat on the Constitution Court as an associate justice.

Born and raised in McMinnville, Oregon, Palacios is now a senior sociology and political science double major in the Clark Honors College. He decided on this combination due to his interest in public law.

“I was always interested in politics in some sort or another, just mostly by legislation and how it affects social issues,” Palacios said. “Putting the two together seemed like the right choice for me.”

Palacios brings more to the job than a passion for equitable education. He has a wealth of experiences from which to draw in his position as an associate justice.

Last year, Palacios studied abroad in London and worked with a nonprofit called the Outward Bound Trust, which fundraises on a national level to mentor to underprivileged inner-city children and give them chances to experience activities that supplement their education, like rock climbing, sailing and mountaineering.

“I think a very important part of education, and the reason that we have a student government here is that the other things outside of education, in that sphere, are important to sow into and to provide opportunities for,” Palacios said.

He also has been interning with a nonprofit law firm called Access the Law, which has provided him with further experience in the comprehension and construction of legal documents. An enormous amount of pages pass before his eyes every week. In addition, he works to help clients understand the sometimes complicated and difficult legal rhetoric of the documents.

Marc Friedman, the staff attorney at Access the Law under which Palacios works, says Palacios has shown high quality work.

“He’s a great worker. He really puts himself into it and goes above and beyond much of the time,” said Friedman.

These experiences within the spheres of both education and law are invaluable in the position of Constitution Court Justice. They certainly were considered during the hiring process. Palacios originally applied for a Senate seat, but when he was passed over for that position, the hiring committee inquired about his interest in the Constitution Court.

Lamar Wise said in a statement from Exec:

“Austin has proven to be an intelligent, hard-working individual that excels in communication and critical thinking. The hiring committee felt that his experience with interning for law firms and ability to maintain professional relationships made him the perfect candidate for the job. We hope by appointing him, Austin would bring a diverse and fair perspective to the Court.”

Palacios was confirmed by Senate at the Nov. 5 meeting

Students, their study supplies and snacks fill Johnson Hall Wednesday as members of the ASUO and SLAP organize a “Solidarity Study In” to stand in support with the Graduate Teaching Fellow Federation strike.

“The administration has really disrupted our education from stalling negotiations with the GTFF, and we feel the need to be disruptive back,” said SLAP president Gabi Cicourel.

The students arrived at Johnson equipped with signs, snacks and homework. Before they began studying though, they headed out to rally with the GTFs picketing the front of the building, unfurling a sign reading “Solidarity with GTFF <3 SLAP”

“I stand in full solidarity with my GTFs,” said SLAP member Colin Worley, calling the administration’s latest offer “unacceptable.”

The GTFs responded by chanting, “Not in the contract? Doesn’t count!”

The undergraduate students then settled onto the marble floor of the lobby, propping their signs against their legs. They greeted administration members as they came in. ASUO Chief of Staff Lamar Wise passed out food to participants.

President Coltrane said good morning to the students as he made his way to his office.

The students studying in Johnson Hall are doing chants at the top of every hour.

ASUO will be providing snacks throughout the day. The study in will be going until 4:00 p.m. today. All students are invited to join.

VP of Operations and VP of Organization for the GTFF Brianna Bertoglio and Jonathan Turbin expressed positive reactions to the support from undergraduates.

“It’s really great to hear,” Bergoglio said.

“I know I’m personally honored and thrilled to have that level of undergraduate support,” Turbin said. “We seem to be continuing in the tradition of University of Oregon students…taking on being engaged future civic leaders.”

Katie Jo LaRiviere arrived on campus on Dec. 2 in the midst of the morning fog. She arrived at her office ready to work on her final essays for her graduate classes, but today wasn’t her typical Tuesday afternoon. Rather than teaching courses and leading discussions, she put on her coat, tied a pink scarf around her neck and pulled a knit hat over her head, in a rush to join her colleagues in front of Friendly Hall.

LaRiviere is a PhD. student in the English department. She spends her weekdays teaching writing classes and helping students. As of Tuesday, when the GTFF began striking after several mediation sessions with the University of Oregon administration failed, she joined the GTFF picket line.

“I’d rather be teaching!” Says one side of the sign.

“I love my students. Fair contract now!” Reads the other.

The GTFF has minimized their demands by meeting a decision with administration regarding salary, but struggle to find middle ground regarding paid medical and parental leave.

In the administration’s most recent offer, they agreed to occur a $150,000 emergency fund that would be administered through the graduate school. In times of medical or parental emergency, GTFs would be able to request a $1,000 fund to cover medical costs, but administration refused to outline the fund in the GTFF contract.

LaRiviere has been an employee, student, teacher and recent mother of two, working without paid leave.

“My oldest daughter was born over Thanksgiving break. I had four days including the weekend to recover from childbirth, to figure out a feeding schedule, bonding, no sleep,” LaRiviere said. “Then I came back to school, wrote two 20 page seminar papers in a week, finished grading all of my students’ work, and finally considered Christmas break to be my maternity leave.”

LaRiviere went through a similar experience with the birth of her second daughter. The birth was days before the mandatory GTF training for 2013. LaRiviere only had days left with her newborn before returning to work, and had to hire a nanny to babysit. Her and her husband didn’t have any close family or friends near Eugene.

A year later, with a one year old and a four year old, the burden is hardly lessened. But, LaRiviere said, she never expected having a family while in graduate school to be easy.

“I know that’s a challenging thing and I’m not asking for the University to pay for my childcare,” she said. “I think it’s disingenuous to say that graduate students should never be able to have children while they’re in school, that just ignores that some people have personal values that uphold family and make family a priority, even while they’re working for an academic degree.”

LaRiviere also said that leaving her students for the picket line was not an easy thing to do.

“I want them to succeed. I want to grade their papers because I know them, I know they’re amazing people. I do care about them. And in the long run, it’s for them, even if right now it doesn’t feel like it’s productive to their education.”

For four hours in 30-degree weather, LaRiviere marched on campus with her fellow GTFs on the first day of the strike, and will continue to do so as long as it continues.

“Any time that I’m not using to write or do my student work, I’ll be on the picket line, because if I’m not allowed to teach under a fair contract then I have to let my voice be heard.”

Follow Kaylee Tornay on Twitter @ka_tornay

Live coverage of Wednesday night’s ASUO Senate meeting

 Agenda

Last week, ASUO Executive and Senate faced complaints from applicants for vacant positions who were dissatisfied with their interview experiences.

Two people came before Senate in the public forum during last week’s meeting to voice their criticism of how Exec handled interviews. Four other written testimonies were submitted, complaining about a lack of preparation and professionalism on the part of the interview committee and a sense that the applicants were not being considered fairly for the position.

Senate spent some time reviewing the testimonies in a discussion period. Many senators found what they saw to be unsettling.

“Reading these testimonies is incredibly disappointing,” Senator Robin Lilley said.

Haley Wilson was one of the applicants who filed a grievance against the interview committee that handled her application for a spot on the EMU Board. Wilson, who currently sits on the board as a member at large, has history working with the ASUO.

“I can’t stress the word ‘impersonal’ enough,” Wilson said. “I interviewed for a position with Exec my freshman year and I didn’t get it, but that doesn’t even matter. The point was that they were super warm and welcoming. There was a huge difference between the performance I saw versus the performance I expected.”

ASUO Chief of Staff Lamar Wise came before Senate and denied that Exec gave any candidate less than a fair shot, as well as any claims that candidates who were not selected for the Executive nomination were not notified properly.

A few days later, ASUO Communications Director Natalie Quirk said in a phone interview, “We didn’t have any lack of communication on our part. I think they were probably just frustrated with the amount of time that it was taking to get the whole process finished with. It’s a lengthy process. Any formal communication would have happened after interviews had concluded.”

Wilson said she did not receive an email until Nov. 11, almost a week after the Executive-selected nominees were confirmed by the Senate.

In addition to transparency with candidates, the issue of transparency with Senate was also raised in discussion. Some senators, among them Samantha Cohen, Yelin Oh and President Rebecca Rhodes, expressed dissatisfaction with the level of communication between Exec and Senate during the interview process.

There are no rules requiring Exec to directly involve Senate in the interview and initial vetting process for candidates, but intercommunication has existed as somewhat of an unspoken assumption. The degree to which this occurs, however, is not definitive.

The hiring committee did include Abel Cerros, Senate Seat 20 and Academic Chair, during the hiring process. Cerros participated in as many of the interviews as he was able to and served as a liaison between the two branches. Of the five open Senate seats, four were academic, so Cerros thought it appropriate that as academic chair, he be present to interview applicants.

“I feel like if the senators were really committed to being involved with the interviews, then they kind of would have made more of an attempt to pursue that…I don’t know whose fault that is,” Cerros said.

Cerros was absent from Senate on Nov. 5, but in response to the complaints, said, “I did read one of the testimonies. I was there when we interviewed this person…I’m not sure if they were interviewed more than once, but based on what I saw, that testimony was not true. I was there. There were at least four or five of us there. We did have pens and paper. We did shake their hands.”

It seems discrepancies remain between the the testimonies of those applicants and some members of the interview committee.

Though Senate expressed concern over transparency, they confirmed every Executive-selected nominee during the Nov. 5 and Nov. 12 meetings.

Live coverage of Wednesday night’s ASUO Senate meeting

Agenda

The University of Oregon School of Law is bringing new classes and leadership to its current undergraduate offerings by adding a more robust legal studies program.

About a year ago, the law school began orchestrating a plan to expand its current undergraduate course load. Sixteen classes are currently available in the areas of law and conflict and dispute resolution. However, not all courses are offered every term.

For fall 2014, undergraduates had six classes to choose from. The new plan will introduce “a combination of introductory courses, capstone freshman seminars, service-learning opportunities, upper-level offerings and directed thesis supervision,” according to a press release from the Office of Communications.

Erick Hoffman was the director of communications when the project was first conceived. He has since left the position, but has continued working with the school on a consulting basis for several months. He said the courses are by no means aimed exclusively at students who are planning to go to law school.

“It certainly helps undergraduates who might want to pursue law school understand what it might be like, but taking law courses adds another facet to an undergraduate experience and could potentially make them more attractive to an employer upon graduation,” Hoffman said. “Say you’re a business major, and you’ve gotten the chance to take some courses in copyright law…that additional knowledge could be something helpful to you in securing employment.”

New classes will include animals and the law, introduction to American law and conflicts of incarceration. A comprehensive list of law and conflict resolution classes can be found on DuckWeb.

“The idea is to grow it over the next 24-36 months into a full major,” said Erica Daley, associate dean of finance for the law school and current communications director.

In addition, the project will be facilitated by faculty both old and new. Next year, Michael Musheno will join current Faculty Director Stuart Chinn.

Musheno is an adjunct professor of law and faculty director of the Legal Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He is also a former program director of Law and the Social Sciences at the National Science Foundation and has directed centers and departments at Arizona State University and San Francisco State University.

Together, they will be in charge of overseeing the context of the curriculum and making sure it connects to other departments at the university.

“I thought about the difference between the focus of undergrad. In law school, we study the law because you’re studying it for its own sake,”  said Chinn. “The law itself is the thing you’re trying to interrogate. What we’re trying to do is to make it more interdisciplinary.”

Tonight’s meeting was marked by a tense public forum regarding the hiring process for the senate positions to be confirmed at the meeting.

Haley Williams, an applicant for ASUO Senate, spoke in the public forum to communicate her displeasure with what she described as an unprofessional and unwelcoming experience in her interview for the position. She said she was disappointed by a lack of attentiveness and a general sense of dismissal during her interview and that she expected more from the ASUO.

Williams was the first of two speakers to talk about their unpleasant experience with the hiring process followed by examination of formal complaints brought up by Senate before the confirmations of new members. Following special requests, the assembly read and discussed the complaints for an allotted twenty minutes, including time for Executive input.

Ombudsperson Samantha Cohen, along with many other members of ASUO Senate, expressed great disappointment with the process and addressed some of her complaints to Interior VP Tran Dinh and ASUO Chief of Staff Lamar Wise.

“Do we really want ASUO to have the messy reputation it has had in the past? I am disappointed in you, executive,” Senator Cohen said.

Wise then addressed Senate in defense of the fairness in the hiring process.

“I’m proud of the people we’ve chosen…we picked them because we vetted them,” Wise said.

The candidates selected by Exec were brought before the assembly for confirmation after the issue was thoroughly discussed, but the controversy surrounding the hiring process was returned to throughout the interviews. Senators Oh and Klosno voted nay on each elected position as a reaction to the issue of lack of communication between Exec and Senate throughout the earlier stages of the hiring process. In addition, Senator Oh asked a few candidates if they would have gone about hiring that way and if they believed the decision was fair.

Executive seemed to have picked the right people to put in front of Senate because each position was confirmed and all five vacant Senate seats were filled. The process was far from brief, however; almost every candidate was vetted for 30-40 minutes and the meeting was not adjourned until 11:55.

Confirmations for senators were as follows: Senator Aven-itza De Primavera for seat 19 (Journalism and History), Senator Quang Truong for seat 4 (EMU Board), Senator William Iversen for seat 11 (Business and Economics), Senator Lizeth Marin for seat 17 (Law and Social Sciences), and Senator Sami Tayeh for seat 15 (Psychology and Cultural Studies).

In addition, Martin Martinez-Santoyo and ThuyAnn Nguyen were confirmed to the PFC, Kaitlyn Fallone as an EMU appointee and Amy Laube to ACFC At-large. Another significant confirmation that involved a great deal of discussion was that of Austin Palacios to the Constitutional Court as an Associate Justice.

For information on ASUO, the new senators, and movings within the senate visit the ASUO website or follow the senate meetings every Wednesday online.

Live coverage of Wednesday night’s ASUO Senate meeting

Agenda

During the Oct. 22 ASUO Senate meeting, VP Miles Sisk issued a warning

to the operators of the blogs that he accused of cyberbullying members of the senate: To shut them down in the next 48 hours or he would hand over the IP addresses to administration.

Now that almost two weeks have passed, it would seem that following through on this threat has proved more difficult than anyone on the senate originally planned. The exact blogs in question have not been revealed, but repeat offenders ASUO Conservative Problems and ASUO Progressive Problems – which created controversy in the ASUO last year – are suspects.

Sisk says that he was still working on obtaining the IP addresses with the help of a friend. In addition, it’s possible that the university could liaise with Google to get ahold of Google Plus accounts to identify the authors of the blogs, according to Sisk.

However, even in the event that the IP addresses are secured and the situation is brought to the attention of the Office of the Dean of Students, it may not be so easy to take the blog down. First Amendment rights give these people the freedom to post whatever opinions they hold, whether positive or negative. Chicora Martin, Assistant Dean of Students, offered some insight into what kinds of harassing behaviors would engender action on the part of the university.

“We don’t have a specific code by which we deal with cyberbullying, and online or not, we go by the same criteria. If the content is perceived as threatening either physically or emotionally, there could be formal conduct charges brought,” Martin said. She recommended a reviewal of the student code of conduct for anyone seeking clarification regarding unacceptable behavior and the potential sanctions.

Essentially, if the Senate can provide definitive corroboration that any member is being caused or threatened with physical or psychological harm, it has a case against the still-unidentified culprits. Otherwise, it seems unlikely that tracing the negative feedback to its origins will produce much progress. Presently, evidence for this kind of harassment has yet to surface.

This is not to trivialize the matter by any means. Anonymous criticism and debasement of members of ASUO does next to nothing to help the organization improve itself in any way.

Senator Andrew Lubash was among the staff that witnessed the spread of bullying comments last school year. “They contribute to a negative atmosphere and really polarize the body, not to mention the personal impact on the person that they’re talking to,” he said.

Since the allegations were first brought to light, there have been concerns expressed that the problem may, in fact, be internal; or in other words, coming from members or former members of the senate. If this is the case, Senate President Rebecca Rhodes wants to make it clear that she will not tolerate anything less than inclusiveness within the organization.

“That is not the ASUO that I’m trying to make and that’s not the Senate I want to be a part of,” Rhodes said.

For now, those responsible for the blogs continue to remain anonymous. Even if identities are revealed, it may be a far more arduous and prolonged movement to see any penalties implemented.

Follow Kaylee on Twitter @ka_tornay