The Associated Students of Madison (ASM) is Madison’s student government. Most students do not know this or at least do not really care. Students do not care either because ASM does not directly affect their day-to-day lives or because most of the press coverage ASM receives is negative or supports radical ideas.

If ASM is serious about making a difference in students’ lives and improving its image, it will need to do more than just a little public relations work. The problems within the student government run much deeper.

Wisconsin State Statute 36.095 gives students a voice in university decision-making, including the student government’s authority to represent students. This is a valuable tool for students, but ASM needs to realize 36.095 gives shared decision-making power, not sole power.

The first thing ASM must do is restore trust lost in the system. The Student Judiciary is supposed to keep the student government honest, similar to what a real state or federal court would do. However, decision after decision reveals SJ has became a political tool, willing to make up rules, reinterpret bylaws and even hand out monetary fines and kick out students without due process.

SJ should be a student committee, but there should be an administrator who handles appeals, rather than having the same students who make the original decision also decide the appeals. This shared responsibility would keep students in the primary position to handle complaints, while forcing them to remain fair and neutral, in order to avoid being overruled by an administrator or administrative appeal board.

If students cannot trust the fact that they will be treated equally and fairly, then the credibility of the organization is gone.

The student government needs to realize its strengths and weaknesses as well. ASM does well when it stays away from politics and focuses on programs that can indisputably benefit all students and will likely benefit a large number of students.

The bus pass, peer-advising and professor evaluations are examples of successful programs ASM has created or are working to create to benefit the student body. All these programs are non-political, and only the bus pass actually requires funding.

ASM’s failure comes when it becomes overtly political or takes up the interests of a small group of students at the detriment of most students.

Passing resolutions against military operations, the USA PATRIOT Act or supporting a minimum-wage hike that will cost students much-needed jobs is not the way to gain respect or support from the student body.

The more partisan and farther to the left the student government turns, the more it is dismissed. The issue is not simply a small contingent of Republicans disliking ASM, but a large majority of students across political lines distrusting ASM. Even otherwise sympathetic students who may agree politically with some of the issues ASM supports are turned off by such actions. They do not find it appropriate for the student government to be taking such political positions.

The Student Services Finance Committee is another source of great tension for ASM. The solution to the constant fighting and complaints is a simple one: allow students to opt-out of their allocable student taxes. Instead of seriously looking at this plan, though, ASM rejects it because “conservatives” thought of the plan and therefore, “the plan must be bad.”

This could not be further from the truth.

Opt-out would take the controversy out of SSFC. First, the traditional opt-out rate is only 30 percent and, since students could opt-out, there would not be big battles to cut funding from organizations. Second, opt-out would allow all groups interested in receiving student tax dollars from SSFC to receive their funding and then allow each student to decide if he or she would like to fund each organization.

Opt-out would mean the UW Greens and Labor Center would still be receiving funding. One million dollar budget requests would be a thing of the past as well, because organizations would know that if they do not submit a reasonable budget, more students would opt-out.

There are plenty of issues that affect students, and ASM should work on those issues. Get politics out of ASM and success will follow. The crackdown on drinking, the lack of parking, rising housing costs and poor landlords, as well as inept advising, are basic issues that frustrate students every year. These are issues ASM could influence. If ASM wants greater legitimacy and respect from the student body, it will need to start working harder for all students.

Matt Modell ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and political science.