Members discuss forming committee to correct conflicts
In light of the two botched Associated Students of Madison elections in the last two weeks, UW-Madison freshman and ASM member Tim Vlietstra proposed the creation of a reform committee at a meeting Wednesday night.
The committee, as proposed by Vlietstra, would potentially deal with problems such as the election and a possible cap for segregated fees. Vlietstra's idea for this committee came in response to his observations of students.
[Students] think ASM is wasting their money, doesn't listen to them, and doesn't care," Vlietstra said.
He said his proposal would also work to inform more UW-Madison students about how their government is run.
Vlietstra's proposed reforms would also tackle the topic of diversity. Vlietstra said he hopes to give a voice to a larger population of the student body, and proposed outreach to students to get them involved.
"It's true we have an agenda—to listen to students," he said. "A large percentage of students don't feel represented by ASM."
UW-Madison junior Jennifer Knox, finance committee chair, agreed that diversity was an important issue, and proposed to amend the regulations of the committee so that input from a diverse student body is required.
Vlietstra also said that changing the ASM bylaws to include this committee would make a bigger impact than individual members of other ASM committees attempting to instill changes.
UW-Madison freshman and ASM member Sol Grosskopf said he agreed that ASM needs reform, and a committee specifically designed for that purpose would make issues more accessible to students.
"We are seen as a large beauracracy," Grosskopf said. "This committee will centralize the issues."
However, several ASM members said that while they are not against reforming the student government, the responsibility lies with the council members themselves and a new committee is not necessary.
"I as a representative do go back and tell people what I do," said Sree Atluru, UW-Madison sophomore and chair of the Campus Relations Committee.
Atluru also expressed the difficulty of representing every student on campus.
"We cannot take thousands of ideologies and melt them into one student government," she said. "That's not possible."
UW-Madison sophomore Samantha Ziesemer, Campus Relations chair, said she thought the need for a separate reform committee was "ironic," because ASM already has open forums that students can participate in.
However, because not many ASM members were present, the issue was tabled and will be brought up in the thirteenth and final ASM session.
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