The Associated Students of Madison voted against the creation of a sustainability committee at its meeting Wednesday.
ASM voted down a similar proposal for the creation of a committee to deal with issues of sustainability two years ago, with members citing concerns there were already enough groups on campus dealing with the topic.
ASM Rep. Collin Higgins, also the outreach coordinator of FH King, a UW student organization dedicated to sustainable agriculture, argued for the creation of the committee and said the King organization does not have the same power in shared governance ASM does.
Higgins said he uses his ASM title in meetings regarding FH King’s work because it gives him more shared governance power.
“A lot of times we get the shaft because we are just that student org,” Higgins said. “We don’t have the same shared governance.”
Higgins said though there is a lot of interest for it, sustainability is an interest area not covered by ASM.
Some ASM members expressed their concerns the creation of this committee within ASM would be redundant with other sustainability groups existing on campus.
ASM Rep. Andrew Kidd said a sustainability committee would be slightly redundant because there are plenty of registered student organizations already created, and though they do not carry the same voice as a representative of Student Council or a chair of an ASM committee, that does not stop them from trying to reach out to further their efforts.
“If they’re failing, they should come before us and say that they’re failing,” Kidd said. “If they make that concern clear, then I think we should be able to address this, and we should create this. But so far, I have not heard that from the RSOs who are trying to do things that are dealing with sustainability.”
ASM Vice Chair Maria Giannopoulos said she is concerned having a sustainability grassroots committee in ASM would be “double-dipping.”
Giannopoulos noted spending money twice on the same thing would be a disservice to students, noting several other organizations already work on sustainability issues on campus.
ASM spokesperson David Gardner said he disagreed and added there is a significant need for sustainability efforts in ASM.
“The fact that we are going to fix our name to it and put so much so much more power behind students is a no-brainer to me,” Gardner said.
ASM ultimately voted to reject the creation of a committee for sustainability by a vote of 12 against, nine in favor and three in abstention. The proposal would have required a two-thirds majority in order to pass.
In an ASM statement, Chair Andrew Bulovsky said student government members will continue to keep sustainability issues in mind, including the possible alternative of adding them into the campaigns of the ASM University Affairs Committee.
“We know many students are interested and concerned about this topic, and we are devoted to making sure those concerns are heard and acted upon,” Bulovsky said in the statement. “ASM will always strive to act on student issues like sustainability, and build the best possible collaboration in order for those campaigns to be successful.”
