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Students get chance to quiz new representatives
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by Matthew Dolbey
Monday, March 22, 2004
University of Wisconsin students will soon get the chance to pick prospective student government representatives’ brains at a number of events set up by the Associated Students of Madison, where hot topics like tuition, student-funded organizations and student rights are likely to be addressed.
The events are being organized to prepare for the student-government elections, which will begin Wednesday, March 31 at 8 a.m. and end April 1 at 8 p.m. There are 33 seats open, with vacancies in both the Student Services Finance Committee and Student Council.
Tuesday night, ASM student-election commissioners are planning an open press event where campus media and students can ask the candidates what they think about campus issues. The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Memorial Union.
Wednesday, students will get treated to free ice cream at the Memorial Union at 5 p.m., where they can mingle with their future representatives. Andrea Giampoli, ASM student election commissioner and UW sophomore, said the 73 students vying for the open seats should be present at the event.
“This is a more student-oriented event,” Giampoli said of Wednesday’s ice-cream social.
Giampoli said some races, especially the SSFC races, are more crowded than others, while some remain uncontested.
The spring ASM elections contain four referenda, most notably one to “regain segregated-fee reserves,” according to the ASM website. The reserves are not administered and re-budgeted into student service programs at the administrative level.
Although more students than ever before voted in this fall’s ASM election, Giampoli said ASM is looking for other ways to get more students to vote in student government elections.
“We definitely want to break any old records [for voting],” Giampoli said, reminding students it is “extremely easy to vote.”
Students can either vote in their rooms, library or computer laboratories online, or at one of the polling sites located in UW’s student unions.
