The Badger Herald

Remember these names: Gosselin, Porton and French. Why? Because the three of them, along with a handful of other now stipended students, will be controlling and affecting about $430 of your money a semester, and around $25 million a year in segregated fees. And they’re bound to be pretty good at it.

I know, I know, you don’t care that the Associated Students of Madison spring elections are next week. You may not even know what ASM is. You probably don’t know what Student Council is, much less what it does, why it exists, or if it does anything other than go to leadership trainings in cities I can’t afford to fly to.

You may have never had a late night conversation with Gestina Sewell on a SAFEride Bus Route, or used a dictionary to understand half the words Alex Gallagher uses in an eight-word sentence. But I’m sure you know what money is, especially when it’s yours. I’m sure you like it, and I’m sure you’d like to keep more of it — or at the very least, see it put to good use.

If nothing else, your money is why you should cast your vote next Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Don’t know who to vote for? Not to worry, I’m here to let you know who will give you the best bang for your buck on the all-important Student Services Finance Committee.

Three seats are up for grabs on SSFC, and — if the ASM website can be trusted — there are four candidates vying for them.

That means someone will be very disappointed next week when results are released. Remember those names I mentioned before? For your sake — unless, of course, you are graduating — it should not be one of them.

I have had the honor to serve on SSFC for the past two semesters. I’ll spare you most of the details, but you’re paying a whole lot more in segregated fees now than I did four years ago when I started attending this university.

According to Joseph French, a candidate vying for a seat on SSFC, segregated fees are up 17.6 percent this year from last. As Mr. French correctly points out, the allocable portion — that is, the portion of segregated fees that SSFC and Finance Committee directly handle — has actually been decreased.

It is Mr. French’s control of this issue that serves to separate him from the only other non-incumbent running for SSFC, Tony Nguyen. Mr. Nguyen, in the nifty ASM-supplied candidate matrix on their website, seems to be under the impression that ASM “has direct control over this money, which it can allocate to various student activities, organizations, and events” and that ASM also “has the power to reduce [seg fees].”

Yes and no, Mr. Nguyen. SSFC has the power to reduce the allocable portion of segregated fees. SSFC has fairly trivial and ceremonial powers over the portion of segregated fees that continues to contribute to an increasingly expensive University of Wisconsin education. While Mr. Nguyen seems far more educated on the issues compared to your average student, Mr. French seems to grasp the complexities and nuances of the system far more than Mr. Nguyen and seems rightfully determined to exert more influence on the expensive non-allocable portion. An impressive command of the issues for a freshman, and an able ally for those who want to make the segregated fee system work for the student.

Incumbents Kurt Gosselin and Adam Porton promise to maintain a legacy begun under Chair Alex Gallagher — sustainability. That’s Gallagherian for “affordable.” Mr. Gosselin is a major proponent of Gallagherian sustainability: making well-thought-out and researched decisions that reflect what is best for the organization in question, the student body paying segregated fees and allowing sustainability of an affordable yet effective General Student Services Fund, which in part makes up allocable fees. Mr. Gosselin’s leadership on the committee is your safest bet for sustainability in a post-Gallagher SSFC.

Adam Porton, meanwhile, is a strong believer in the distinction between GSSF groups — those who are decided by SSFC as eligible for the General Student Services Funds that SSFC doles out — and those whose needs could be met by an alternative funding stream: the event, operational, and travel grants administered by the Finance Committee. Mr. Porton also embodies everything an SSFC member should be: well-researched, detail-oriented, and frustratingly inquisitive. Outside of the current leadership, Adam Porton just may be the most knowledgeable and able member serving on the committee.

French, Porton and Gosselin represent the best shot students have at responsibly administering the portion of allocable fees that SSFC dictates, while increasing our role in the governance of the non-allocable portion.

Gerald Cox (gcox@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in economics.