I've never written about the Associated Students of Madison before. This isn't because of a lack of knowledge or opinions about our student government. But whatever blunders they made, it's difficult to criticize a group of college students who dedicate a large portion of their lives to obscure parliamentary rules and the ever-exhilarating world of discretionary funding.
It just became much less difficult. Chancellor John Wiley's recent letter politely asking ASM to resubmit portions of its budget that violate UW System policy was met with continued defiance by ASM. Namely, it includes $89,079 in off-campus rent funding for student organizations. The chancellor has warned both ASM and the organizations in question about this potential conflict for years. Regardless, ASM refuses to change the budget, claiming it is "standing up for student rights," according to a Badger Herald report.
So does ASM expect the chancellor to break the law? Does ASM think that if it keeps throwing food off the high chair, the administration will just give up? Will perpetual stalemate with a sympathetic chancellor who is just following the rules really help its legitimacy?
ASM has proven time and again that it is more interested in placating special interest groups who live beyond their means than representing the interests of the student body. The sad thing is that despite UW's progressive reputation, our student government mirrors the national government — rarely missing a chance to dole out pork.
Indeed, the parallels to the U.S. Congress are astounding. Just replace the "bridge to nowhere" of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, with hotel bills for obscure conferences, or $250,000 yearly for UW's Roman Catholic Foundation. Our student government is like a horribly failed lab experiment under controlled conditions that has proven the pessimist's hypothesis correct: We are no less fundamentally corrupt than our parents' generation.
Where ASM sees student groups' rights to office space despite UW's logistical limitations, I see pandering to campus opinion leaders. Where it sees the formation of a vibrant campus community full of options, I see a haphazard waste of student money at a time when tuition hikes are the rule rather than the exception. How can students plead to the state for more funding to keep tuition down when our own government doesn't treat it as a serious priority?
When the gravy train fills its cavernous boxcars with more student money next year, it will get that much harder for cash-strapped Wisconsinites to attend their flagship school. The harmful effects of ASM's nickel-and-diming aren't immediately obvious. A few dollars here or there add straws to the strain on the state's financial aid system, while students who work their way through school find it that much harder to balance the checkbook and are increasingly tempted to take out additional private loans.
ASM has abdicated its primary responsibility to the student body — to keep tuition low and fight those who seek to fleece us. Ironically, the ASM symbol is chains of the administration being broken — and they have been. The only problem is that student government has escaped into oncoming traffic. It plays a game of "Frogger" with our cash and the joystick is perpetually jammed.
"No off-campus rent" is not an unreasonable rule, and why ASM insists on breaking UW System policy to make students pay that much more goes beyond any conceivably valid logic. But thankfully for restless students, ASM recently lowered the maximum T-shirt budget from $500 to $300.
Nonetheless, there is validity in the argument that allocable segregated fees contribute to the campus climate, and that having so many groups available without membership dues creates a vibrant community where students always have the option to get involved. But why go beyond just keeping these groups afloat if that is the goal? It's one thing to ask Joe student to make a contribution to the campus climate, but unseemly to demand he bankrolls obscure and unnecessary activities.
With the help of an advanced political correctness decoder, I will transcribe Chancellor Wiley's letter to ASM asking it to reconsider its budget so you don't have to read it yourself.
"You obviously put time and effort into your somewhat pathetic attempt to stand up to the man, and I applaud you for amusing me. But seriously, do it over and follow the rules this time, because you look like petulant infants."
Bassey Etim ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and journalism.
