Student Government's revolution has moved swiftly over the last 12 days. For those who missed it, let's recap what has happened so far. Student Government held its first meeting March 31. Nearly 30 students turned out to the Rathskellar to witness the historic creation of a government of, by and for the students. Contributing to a renewed interest in campus government, Student Government offered any candidate for or member of ASM the chance to declare their solidarity with the students. Only six ASM hopefuls and representatives signed this contract with the students. This was final proof that ASM does not care about reform and that Student Government is needed.

So how should the system change? We propose three planks: accountability and transparency, checks and balances and a reformed segregated-fee policy.

Accountability can be created by simple, common sense measures: budgets of student organizations, for example, will be easily accessible online for anyone to search. Student Government will also require that every budget is detailed down to line items — everything must be clear. It will institute an audit system that will go through every student budget every year. This audit group will guarantee that segregated fees are used properly.

There must also be transparency. Student Government will guarantee that each individual representative's votes are listed online. Only when we know how each representative votes will we be able to truly hold him or her accountable for his or her actions. Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and students must be able to find out exactly where their money is being spent and how their representatives are voting.

In addition, Student Government will institute a clear system of checks and balances. Every committee chair will be an elected representative. Student Government will also redefine and streamline the currently murky appeals process. We propose a clear chain of appeals that has a clear ending.

And then there's the issue of segregated fees. To be frank, it is the most divisive plank within the committee. It is not our opinion that student groups should disappear. Indeed, one of UW-Madison's greatest assets is the unparalleled number of non-academic opportunities it offers its undergraduates, grad students and staff members alike.

What we do agree on is the need for an inflation-adjusted cap on the portion of segregated fees students have control over. That our tuition rises by a large percentage every year without fail is an indisputable travesty; we should not be in the business of increasing that percentage ourselves. We've also spent countless hours debating the merits and downfalls of opt-in and opt-out systems, whereby students have a more direct say in where their fees go.

Now that we've brought something to the table, it's your turn. While these are our convictions, they are only that — our convictions — and do not necessarily reflect what will be written in to a constitution that effectively represents the interests of the student body. At its core, Student Government's mission is to collect massive input coming into the constitution-writing process. We want to hear from you. Attend the upcoming listening sessions. Drop us an e-mail. Post a message on our Facebook group. Comment on our website — www.uwsg.org.

Be on the lookout for announcements regarding our listening sessions within the week.

Erick Butzlaff
Sol Grosskopf
David Lapidus
Steven Schwerbel
The Constitutional Committee of Student Government