Representatives-elect of the 15th session of the Associated
Students of Madison’s Student Council acknowledged several “failures”
Sunday in student government that past leaders neglected to address.

The group of 14 released a statement outlining their plans
to improve ASM and to help the organization “regain legitimacy.”

Fifteenth-session council members do not take their
positions until May 1, but they have already begun to discuss a plan for reform
in the fall.

“ASM must reform its internal structure in order to
increase its capacity to work on campus issues and regain legitimacy,” the
statement said.

College of Letters and Science representative and Student
Services Finance Committee Chair Alex Gallagher said ASM’s new goal is to make
student government legitimate to all students.

“It’s hard to say whether it’s legitimate or
illegitimate right now,” Gallagher said. “It’s illegitimate to a
large portion of the student population.”

The declaration of change comes on the heels of the poorly
attended “State of the ASM” address, which College of Letters and
Science representative and Shared Governance Committee Chair Jeff Wright said
was “indicative of larger systemic issues that we are having with student
government right now.”

Only three members of the media and six ASM members attended
the State of the ASM address.

In the statement, the representatives-elect acknowledge what
they see as ASM’s failures, including “to execute specific and unified
campaigns that address issues of higher education,” “to seek appropriate
input from the student body on its campaigns and services” and to
“provide a viable forum to discuss and address current issues affecting
the campus.”

“We want to send the message to students that many
members know the problem and that we are taking steps to address the
issues,” Wright said. “The release was a declaration of our
commitment to changing the way student government functions.”

The 15th-session council members have outlined a plan to
initiate a presidential system, which they hope would help student government
to be more accountable to the students.

“We need leaders appointed by students that are
accountable to students,” Wright said.

The outline also calls for an implementation of new bylaws
requiring the student council to approve all initiatives and campaigns of
individual committees. Gallagher said committees are not currently required to
get approval from the council and these bylaw changes will create a stronger
central government.

“ASM overextends itself by taking on so many
things,” Gallagher said. “Our intent is to have Student Council do
the steering of the entire organizations, and the committees would just be the
arms as extensions.”

The representatives-elect also want to create a press office
to handle ASM’s public relations, a plan that Wright said is very important.

“This year we have been pretty absent, and I would like
to see a stronger relationship (between ASM and) the media and then the media
to the students,” Wright said.

A major goal in the process of reforming ASM is to improve
outreach to students. UW junior David Lapidus, who attempted to create an
alternate student government in revolt of ASM in 2006, said many of ASM’s
failures have had much to do with outreach. Campaign and outreach initiatives
attempted by ASM over the last few years have “been a wreck,” Lapidus
said.

Lapidus said the plans to implement change are attainable
and cover the major issues within the organization, and that the
representatives-elect’s statement is a positive development.

He said it is a good sign that there is a consensus among
the group that there is a problem and that the 15th-session members are very
capable individuals, but he is waiting to see if the plans get carried out.

“If they screw this up for another year, there could be
another revolt,” Lapidus said. “Students aren’t going to continue to
put up with this.”