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Student Government wants your input

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by Guest Columnist

Monday, April 10, 2006

Student Government's revolution has moved swiftly over the last 12 days. For those who missed it, let's recap what has happened so far. Student Government held its first meeting March 31. Nearly 30 students turned out to the Rathskellar to witness the historic creation of a government of, by and for the students. Contributing to a renewed interest in campus government, Student Government offered any candidate for or member of ASM the chance to declare their solidarity with the students. Only six ASM hopefuls and representatives signed this contract with the students. This was final proof that ASM does not care about reform and that Student Government is needed.

So how should the system change? We propose three planks: accountability and transparency, checks and balances and a reformed segregated-fee policy.

Accountability can be created by simple, common sense measures: budgets of student organizations, for example, will be easily accessible online for anyone to search. Student Government will also require that every budget is detailed down to line items — everything must be clear. It will institute an audit system that will go through every student budget every year. This audit group will guarantee that segregated fees are used properly.

There must also be transparency. Student Government will guarantee that each individual representative's votes are listed online. Only when we know how each representative votes will we be able to truly hold him or her accountable for his or her actions. Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and students must be able to find out exactly where their money is being spent and how their representatives are voting.

In addition, Student Government will institute a clear system of checks and balances. Every committee chair will be an elected representative. Student Government will also redefine and streamline the currently murky appeals process. We propose a clear chain of appeals that has a clear ending.

And then there's the issue of segregated fees. To be frank, it is the most divisive plank within the committee. It is not our opinion that student groups should disappear. Indeed, one of UW-Madison's greatest assets is the unparalleled number of non-academic opportunities it offers its undergraduates, grad students and staff members alike.

What we do agree on is the need for an inflation-adjusted cap on the portion of segregated fees students have control over. That our tuition rises by a large percentage every year without fail is an indisputable travesty; we should not be in the business of increasing that percentage ourselves. We've also spent countless hours debating the merits and downfalls of opt-in and opt-out systems, whereby students have a more direct say in where their fees go.

Now that we've brought something to the table, it's your turn. While these are our convictions, they are only that — our convictions — and do not necessarily reflect what will be written in to a constitution that effectively represents the interests of the student body. At its core, Student Government's mission is to collect massive input coming into the constitution-writing process. We want to hear from you. Attend the upcoming listening sessions. Drop us an e-mail. Post a message on our Facebook group. Comment on our website — www.uwsg.org.

Be on the lookout for announcements regarding our listening sessions within the week.

Erick Butzlaff Sol Grosskopf David Lapidus Steven Schwerbel The Constitutional Committee of Student Government

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Anonymous (April 10, 2006 @ 8:56am):

Alright guys, your 15 minutes of fame are up. We all know you're just resume padding careerists hacks who have had the opportunity to reform ASM while serving for the past year but have done absolutely nothing (this means you, Grosskopf and Lapidus). Good luck trying to get the most liberal school in the midwest to support a "government" endorsed by the far-right.

Anonymous (April 10, 2006 @ 9:43am):

You do know that the gross majority of seg fees goes to WUD, Rec Sports, and UHS, right? I mean because it wouldn't make sense for you to attack a seg fee system you didn't even understand, would it?

Anonymous (April 10, 2006 @ 11:22am):

I really like what the Student Government is offering if ASM disappears...the problem is that I believe it is unrealistic. Like under the accountability paragraph:
"It will institute an audit system that will go through every student budget every year."

I'm not sure how many orgs get seg fee money, but there are like 700 orgs on campus. Let's be honest, to audit all of them, SG will probably have to pay someone. Where does that cash come from...seg fees!

Under transparency: "Student Government will guarantee that each individual representative's votes are listed online." Awesome...but is every vote a roll call? Seems inefficient to go through the roll call for every vote.

As for seg fees, haven't we been down that rode enough. The opt-in/opt-out system will not work, and cannot according to the US Supreme Court.

I understand that these are "convictions" but I think others will think this is what will happen. My take: Be more realistic in your convictions and tell us what will happen, not what the ideal situation will be

Anonymous (April 10, 2006 @ 11:39pm):

"Accountability can be created by simple, common sense measures: budgets of student organizations, for example, will be easily accessible online for anyone to search. Student Government will also require that every budget is detailed down to line items -- everything must be clear. It will institute an audit system that will go through every student budget every year. This audit group will guarantee that segregated fees are used properly."

You do understand that all of the "common sense" suggestions you just proposed are already in place? Anyone can see the seg fee budgets--you just need to make an open records request and ASM is required, by law, to fill it. Every budget IS detailed line-by-line. Have you actually looked at a budget application and approval through SSFC? Finally, GSSF budgets are reviewed EVERY DAY by ASM staff to ensure they are following ASM, UW, State and Federal policies. And if you want to do an audit outside of that, that's your right already. Although it's gonna cost ya...