Through recent memory, the Associated Students of Madison have garnered reactions ranging from puzzlement to disgust for their misdirected attempts to serve the student body.
However, this summer a simple plan wins a golf clap that ripples gently around campus. Not too rowdy, but a polite “well played, sir.”
It’s not that previous scorn was completely unwarranted. Such foibles as the notoriously mal-attended state of the ASM address, a poorly-executed campaign for reform last spring and a breathtakingly not-thought-out proposal for a grocery store in Union South have rightly garnered disappointment from the students of the University of Wisconsin, whom ASM has the duty and mandate to represent.
And though nobody’s breaking out in thundering ovations just yet, the straightforward and well-executed plan to ease a challenge to students living off-campus will not go unnoticed.
Madison landlords traditionally demand their tenants vacate their apartments at the end of leases on Aug. 14, but new leases don’t start until the next day. The gap in housing invariably leaves some students stranded with no storage for their possessions, “homeless for a night” on the streets of the city.
ASM’s plan to open the Student Activities Center for storage and lodging answered a real and acute need of students effectively.
With an all-campus e-mail and flyers one could hardly miss, the event was well-advertised. And while a prohibition on alcohol consumption probably barred some party-minded students from partaking in the event, the logistics of hosting students in the SAC were handled competently.
Only about 40 students took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in the new facility, but ASM still deserves commendation. Estimates show about 280 took advantage of the opportunity to park cars full of their possessions safely overnight.
The plan did exactly what ASM should aim for in every endeavor: help students. It identified a real need and found a straightforward way to address it. And while nobody’s ideological appetites were quenched and no glorious battle with the administration or city was won, real students were satisfied and victorious.
So, for once, we say keep up the good work, ASM, and maybe someday that’ll be you we’re cheering on with megaphones and pompoms.
