In its new constitution, the Associated Students of Madison proposes to throw out the current system of representation and replace it with the “Galactic Empire” of student government. The entire document feels as if it were written by a political science major with a pocket constitution and severe delusions of grandeur. (I should know; I am one.)
Let’s face facts: ASM should operate as the voice of the students of UW-Madison and it claims to do so. However, ASM is so unimportant to the average UW student that most aren’t aware they’re part of the group. As it is, most students see ASM as a free bus pass and a bunch of snobby poli-sci majors “playing government” with their segregated fees. This is the real issue that ASM must solve.
I hate to sound like Ronald Reagan, but the proposed bigger government isn’t the solution. Entrusting a president with expansive veto power, creating an executive cabinet and turning the Student Council into a vast oversight committee is the wrong idea. It is simply providing more evidence to the 94 percent of students who feel that it’s not worth spending five minutes voting for their representatives from the comfort of their laptops.
Rather than restructuring itself, ASM should focus instead on becoming a more representative organization by using its current structure more effectively. By making the students of Madison feel they really are part of ASM, ASM could increase its legitimacy and make real changes that help UW’s students. I propose the following changes:
ASM should expand the current Legislative Affairs Committee and make its members directly elected rather than volunteers.
Stricter standards for constituent contact should be set for members of the Student Council. A new committee focusing solely on learning the issues important to the students of UW should be established. Surveys should be conducted. Real, genuine, person-to-person contact rather than a questionnaire buried among The Badger Beat, JSM advertisements and yet another e-mail from David Plouffe urging you to send Barack more cash. If ASM doesn’t address its constituent problem soon, history may repeat itself on the UW campus. As our founding fathers taught us, a government that does not represent its constituents cannot stand. Or, in ASM’s case, it may slowly fade into irrelevance.
Tyler Junger
Student Services Finance Committee candidate
sophomore, political science
