Opinion: Editorial
Represent!
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On Wednesday, the Associated Students of Madison Student Council decided to get serious.
Well, just a little serious.
Student Council Secretary Kurt Gosselin put forth a proposal, which was passed, to force members of Student Council to hold at least two hours of office hours per week in order to be available to constituents. If the members of Student Council do not follow through on these office hours, they could be penalized with one unexcused absence, provided the chair and secretary feel it necessary.
We’d like to congratulate ASM on this attendance-based victory, but we can’t. That’s because it doesn’t really solve the problem.
Of all the branches of ASM, Student Council has the most consistent problem with attendance. The first year of ASM’s existence, SC tried to hold a meeting to address rampant absences but couldn’t take any action. That’s because they didn’t meet quorum.
While the 33-member body hasn’t been that bad in the last few years, it hasn’t been that good, either. Last night’s meeting saw 19 members show up. That seems to be the median for this semester. Now, understand that there are seven vacancies, but that still means there are seven others who didn’t show up, for whatever reason. And besides, how do you think we got to seven vacancies, anyway?
While we would think raising the standards for Student Council representatives is admirable, they need to be a significant part of the actual council first.
Right now, a representative of Student Council needs five unexcused absences to be automatically expelled from Student Council. They can have their absences excused for reasons of illness, death in the family, commitments to other organizations, work conflicts, religious observances, class or emergencies excused by the vice chair.
Unexcused absences, however, can be doled out for not performing duties listed in the bylaws. This includes lobbying the state Legislature for affordable tuition once during their term and attending a minimum of three hours at ASM recruitment drives.
So, basically, you can’t have an unexcused absence unless you don’t do your job.
Let’s remedy this.
People who run for Student Council have either been painted as political opportunists or résumé padders. If we really want to weed these people out, we should not wait two-and-a-half months to expel them. To do so can leave students without proper representation for nearly an entire semester until something is done.
First, get rid of leaves of absences. If someone cannot fill their duties because of a backup of commitments, they should reconsider their spots on Student Council. Or take an unexcused absence.
Also, instead of five, let’s make it a three-strikes rule. Three absences is used right now as a warning shot to SC members and the council can decide to expel them by a two-thirds vote. Instead of leaving sanctions up to SC, just make it automatic and find an appointment to replace the seat.
This isn’t hard, folks. Maybe council members would just start dropping like flies if our proposals are implemented, but at least future members would know the stakes. Well, hopefully.
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Well said. Right now it’s so persistent because people can get away with it. Alternate question: How many SC Reps will we lose when they can’t get away with it? What to do if their seats go unfilled?
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Why don’t you write a snide letter about this one too Ken? Since apparently that’s all you know how to do.
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I sit on SC as an elected Rep from Letters & Science and serve as the Chair of the Legislative Affairs Committee. Disclosure aside, I fully support stricter rules regarding absences. Excused absences are a nicety and I don’t see the presence of enough political willpower to overturn this safety net and create actual standards.
That being said, I would prefer we continue to allow excused absences but change the criteria for being expelled from Council. 3 Unexcused absences would result in being expelled, as well as 5 absences of any reason. So even if you have “emergencies” or other commitments, you are still held accountable.
However as I said, at least at the moment, I do not see enough political will on Council to enact a change of this scale.