Opinion
Look beyond ASM slates
Looking for a print version?
Simply use your browser’s ‘Print’ command and a printer-friendly document will be generated automatically.
Also by Kevin Otten:
Sharing tools:
E-mail this article:
You can always tell when there are ASM elections on campus by looking at the soles of your shoes: chances are, they are covered in a rainbow of chalk. As candidates furiously cover the sidewalks with their names and political slates, little time is actually devoted to discussing the real issues, or what these “slates” you hear about actually are.
And much to the delight of the masterminds behind them, political slates convince people to vote for an entire party of people, often without really knowing anything about them at all, except that they are affiliated with some abstract concept. If you are conservative, you are instructed to vote for Robin Hood slate. If you are liberal, you must vote for FUSE.
You are convinced there is no other option — student fees are skyrocketing into the millions, and thus you must act fast to prevent crazy liberals from taking over! Or you are told ASM is a mob of viciously racist, sexist and homophobic monsters who will stop at nothing to destroy all diversity programs on campus.
The reality is much less extreme than both slates would like you to believe. Fees do, in fact, increase; and, yes, some representatives do not support social-justice programs. But the people who actually show up and vote at every meeting and on every budget are usually the ones who listen attentively in debate and try their hardest to think over what would really be best for students. They may not always agree or make decisions you completely support, but at least they take everything into account instead of rushing into a knee-jerk reaction. And frankly, they usually are the ones who don’t have extremely strong allegiances to a slate that instructs them how to vote on everything.
Often overlooked is the fact that some of the people roped into these slates during elections are people whose only qualification is their political ideology. Since the elections allow candidates to come from each and every school or college on campus, slates desperately need to find at least someone (anyone!) who agrees with their ideology who can run from each school. What’s worse is that some of the candidates have a stronger loyalty to these ideologies than they do to actually doing the job to which they hope to get elected.
For example, this year on the Student Council, there were some representatives from both slates who only showed up when politicized, controversial legislation was on the agenda. Additionally, on the SSFC, which allocates funds to student organizations, some members only showed up to vote for (or against) certain organizations and then quit once those organizations received their funds.
We need people running our student government and representing us as students who will actually do the job they are elected to do and listen to something else besides a one-dimensional ideology. Everyone has their own political beliefs, and no one should be expected to abandon them, but we should also expect our representatives to be active participants all of the time — not just when an issue they feel strongly about comes up, or an organization they like (or worse yet, don’t like) is seeking funding.
Don’t get me wrong — there are some really amazing people I know who are involved with the slates this year. And they should not be completely overshadowed by those who give their slates a bad name. But I don’t need to tell you how great they are here, because they have huge alliances of people out campaigning for them, and you’ve probably already heard it. Unfortunately, it’s the independent candidates who are the most overlooked when students cast their votes online.
But this time around, for the ASM election, look closer at the candidates, especially the independents. Pay attention to those who don’t have a gigantic slate towering behind them, those who have not limited themselves to a one-word or five-bullet ideology.
Look closer at candidates like Faris Rashid, a Letters and Science candidate, who has been a volunteer for several years with ASM, but has steered clear of the political warfare. Look into the accomplishments of people like Eric Saar and Barb Kiernoziak, who had better attendance records this year on SSFC than any of their slate-supported colleagues and who spent several hours carefully examining budgets.
Don’t be fooled into thinking you must vote for a certain person simply because of your politics or your identity. Vote for the people who have the experience, the qualifications and the dedication to represent you and your interests at every meeting, for every budget, every piece of legislation and every vote.
So go to www.vote.asm.wisc.edu and cast your vote for the candidates who really have your best interests, rather than their own political interests, as their top priority.
Kevin Otten is the current vice chair of SSFC and a former ASM Student Council member.
7 Comments | Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Herald Blogs
The Beat Goes On
Brother Ali makes an ‘Exclusive’ stop
Muckrakers
Report: Barrett to make decision by the end of the week
Extra Points
Top Classified Ads (view all)
HOUSES FOR Fall 2010. All houses are on W Dayton or N Bassett. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 bedrooms. All have parking. madisoncampusrentals.com
521 W Dayton 4BR/2BA. Marble showers, dishwasher, completely updated! madisoncampusrentals.com
1, 2, or 3 bedroom apartment available for spring 2010. meltzer@wisc.edu if you are interested!
Kevin, take your own advice and look beyond the so-called "ORGASM" Slate. The only candidates you mention by name are slaves to that group of ASM hacks.
Ah, the ORGASM slate...the only group honest enough to admit up front that they're out to screw you.
I could only find Faris on the Orgasm site. However, Kevin makes a great point, most of the people who actually care, do what is expected in their positions and try to help students are the independents. Many of the "slate" candidates seemed to be trying to just prove a point or find a forum to spread their political beliefs. Their political agenda is a personal one, not one that is an attempt to actually represent the desires of the students. Kevin is also correct in stating that there are great candidates from each slate out there. Elect people with a strong sense of civic duty, not a strong sense of partisanship.
Kevin,
Really good piece. I know I faced the same issues you talked about in the article while on Council, and I too would encourage voters to look at the people they're electing instead of just blindly casting votes. While it's hard to say, a blind vote this week means blind votes all next year on Council.
Hell yes, Kevin! (This is Joe Shumow, not wanting to log in.)
I agree with many of your points. All the votes I cast were for slate members, however I knew each person well and was confident that they would work hard and always represent my views.
I would like to point out that Faris Rashid has aligned himself with a slate this year. He is actually an example of a great organizer that 'is' involved with slate politics. I am certainly supportive of him however, there are people on his slate that are certainly wild cards.
Look beyond the slates and don't vote at all.
ASM is a sham and always will be.