It is time again for student government elections. This is usually a competition of around 60 students fighting to see who can be least representative of the student body. These people get elected because few students bother to take the three minutes to vote.
Why don't students vote? Do we not care what Associated Students of Madison does? We should, since ASM raises our tuition bill every year.
ASM is unimportant, but while we are on campus, we may as well elect students who might try to represent us, especially because voting is so easy online.
But who to vote for? Every year students run on ideas like \diversity,"" ""more student representation"" and ""campus safety."" Rarely do they give specifics.
This year is different. A group of students are running as the Badger Party. They want to represent the average student and focus on issues that affect them.
The students who support the ideas of the Badger Party are running on five issues that actually affect all of us:
1. Cut tuition and fees by making large cuts to seg fees.
This will result in your tuition bill decreasing and ASM will be able to justifiably lobby at the capitol to keep tuition affordable. ASM raised allocable seg-fees by 84 percent this year and then hypocritically wanted to tell the legislature how tuition increases are bad.
2. Fight for the preservation of drink specials.
This year's ASM has not fought to preserve drink specials and has focused solely on non-alcoholic alternatives for weekend entertainment. These alternatives are important, but a large percentage of students (certainly more than who will vote in this election) are happy with our form of entertainment and love the drink specials that make fun affordable.
3. Continue to focus on campus safety, particularly parking issues.
Why is the latest proposal for new parking rules restricting some of the parking lots closest to College Library, Grainger and the SERF? These lots are completely empty after 8 p.m. on weekdays and weekends. The administration may want to discourage students from bringing cars onto campus, but jeopardizing their safety is not the way to get the message across.
4. Push for a 24-hour library.
UW-Madison is one of the highest ranked colleges in the country without a 24-hour library. Why? Though the library will not be packed at 5 a.m., students should be provided an area to go to during finals or when all five professors are kind enough to schedule midterms the same week. A 24-hour library would provide students with more flexibility in their study schedule and improve this university's academic reputation. If the libraries close at 11:45 p.m. weekend nights, it must mean it's time to go out and drink, right?
5. Continue the fight for tenant rights.
Students are paying high rent for substandard housing. Landlords are using loopholes like placing a toilet at the top of basement stairs to comply with regulations regarding the number of bathrooms required in a house. This must stop. Rental season also starts too early. Students should not be forced to decide where they want to live next year four months after moving in this year.
Who are these students who will fight for the average student on campus? L&S: Andrew Horn, Andre Jacque, Mark Santi, Andrew Sheean and Kyle Tromblee. L&S Grad student: Thomas Clark. School of Ed: Daniel Golemb. Engineering: Charles Sieb, Peter Kohlhepp and Steven Weiss. Non-L&S Grad: Ryan Nichols. Human Ecology and Nursing: Thomas Woods. School of Business: Andrew Christenson and Nicholas Lankford. SSFC: Aaron Werner.
If you agree with some of these positions, please go to before tonight at 8 p.m. and take a stand. Three minutes is all that is needed to tell the current student government you have had enough!
