OPINION & EDITORIAL
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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:
- Madison's annual hip-hop conference falters (April 14, 2003)
- Dear Dave: Post this near your desk (April 17, 2003)
- Politicking destroyed opt-out's proponents (April 14, 2003)
- Don't Cut Historical Society Funds (April 29, 2003)
- Redirecting control (April 23, 2003)
Related Stories:
- What's worse than ASM? (April 4, 2002)
- United Council: What $1.35 buys you (April 8, 2003)
- United Council vital to serving students (April 5, 2005)
- A bad bill (January 30, 2002)
- Readers summon inner demons (January 26, 2007)
by Badger Herald Editorial Board
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
Two weeks ago we endorsed Jeff Pertl for chair of United Council. While we disagree with him on many issues, we reasoned that a UW-Madison alumnus would be a welcome addition to an organization that has priorities frequently at odds with the unique needs of UW-Madison.
Of course, an even better alternative would be to withdraw from United Council and have ASM lobby state government directly. Unfortunately, the ASM powers-that-be just denied students the chance to choose this option, violating their own bylaws.
Part Five, Article Three, Section Two of ASM’s bylaws makes the question of continued UW-Madison representation in United Council a standing referendum. This referendum “shall be held in the spring of every even-numbered year and shall automatically be placed on the ballot by the [Student Election Commission] Chair.” As the 12.2 percent of students who voted in last week’s ASM elections know, this did not take place.
Unfortunately, this oversight by Student Judiciary (which oversees election) is no surprise — consider the other branches of student government. Student council has muddled through this last year without a purpose and has been silent on several major student issues, and SSFC doubled their portion of tuition; Student Judiciary probably felt left out of the incompetent club.
We know this was an honest mistake — the same thing happened in 2000. But if ASM wants to address the big issues on campus, they had best start by getting the little things right.
