“FACES is a backing tool for students running for positions on ASM,” freshman Jonah Zinn, a Letters and Sciences candidate, said. “FACES’ main goal is to reinvigorate the student population as a part of the student government and be real advocates for important student issues.”
Slated candidates emphasized student involvement, affordability and accessibility of a University of Wisconsin degree, campus safety, diversity and environmental responsibility as several areas that would receive attention under FACES’ platform.
In the past, Zinn said ASM has failed to act on the concerns of the student body.
“ASM has a lot of power to control segregated funds, but we want to make sure that these are put toward the right programs and groups,” Zinn said.
If elected, FACES candidates said they would use ASM’s grassroots structure to enable students.
“We know how to organize students from the bottom up,” Zinn said, citing the group’s involvement in the Vote No Coalition, which had significant involvement in preventing the new ASM constitution’s approval by the student body.
Furthermore, he said ASM does not currently utilize its lobbying abilities, and FACES would make effective use of these to “directly lobby and cultivate relationships with Bascom Hill, as well as state legislatures.”
Former Student Services Finance Committee Chair Kurt Gosselin, an ASM member and Vote Yes advocate, gave credit to the Vote No Coalition for having a passionate interest in student government, something he said he hasn’t seen in recent years.
But he went on to say that during the ASM constitution vote process, the Vote No Coalition was very adversarial toward the administration.
“I would say in most instances that the students should be working with administration for improvements,” Gosselin said. “Coming into things with a very adversarial attitude would be damaging to the effectiveness of ASM.”
Gosselin, who said he is not aware of FACES’ exact positions, added he hopes everybody running for ASM understands the scope of ASM’s power and doesn’t try to exceed it.
In addition to a new grassroots structure, UW freshman Jake Burow, a Letters and Sciences candidate, said that FACES also hopes to advocate for the university to make steps toward environmental responsibility.
He said that FACES believes the university’s current policies create two-fold problems.
“First, the university’s actions harm our environment, and second, they take money away from other much-needed programs,” Burow said.
Burow added FACES hopes to support programs at UW that will reduce waste, conserve food in the dining halls, replace Styrofoam use with biodegradable materials and stop pesticide use.
FACES candidates voiced concern over rising tuition prices coupled with the nation’s struggling economy.
Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, a graduate school candidate, said, “This university is becoming more unaffordable and unattainable, yet the university’s response has been that its hands are tied by the lack of funding offered by the Wisconsin state Legislature.”
Like other FACES’ proposals, Zinn said she plans on tackling other tuition issues through direct lobbying and campaign of school and state officials.
— Kevin Bargnes contributed to this report.
