The Associated Students of Madison builds its foundation from the bottom up. We look to volunteers and interns as well as council members who invest their time in campaigns and committees that truly make a difference for students by working on issues such as a library open 24 hours a day, linking financial aid increases to tuition and tenants' rights.
There have been ample opportunities, most of them partisan, to remove people from leadership, whether it's the Legislative Affairs Chair, SSFC Chair or the previous efforts to remove myself and others from ASM. However, part of a bipartisan approach to leadership is moving past petty bickering and fostering the momentum that has been built throughout this year. It is hardly a secret that REACH and Badger Party members disagree on many issues, but that does not mean that we cannot enjoy courteous working relationships and have respect for our particular organizational roles. I believe that uniting on the general student issues that both parties are able to agree on, rather than becoming mired in the divisive mentality of the smoke-filled student council chambers, is what is needed if ASM is to progress and fulfill its mission of serving students. Principled organizational decisions and a bipartisan approach are pivotal to the achievement of this goal.
There are many who are trying to pursue a conservative agenda for ASM and I respect that. However, there are a handful of people who would like to dismantle the seg fee process as well as the Associated Students of Madison organization. Code 36.09(5) and student governance are essential to democracy in our campus community and the people who are represented by ASM and those with whom we work expect a government that is capable of conducting business in a respectful and effective way. It does not mean that we have to agree, but indulgences in ego and self-destructive behavior are unacceptable and embarrassing to us and the people we serve.
Internal politicking is not winning students a 24-hour library or legislative victories, and is not making the Associated Students of Madison a body of integrity in the eyes of the students of this campus. I believe that we, as representatives of the student body, are not here to play political chess... we are here to represent students and organize for grassroots victories. We are not here to make self-serving power plays... we are here to protect shared governance and work to limit damaging tuition increases. We are not here to have titles, we are not here to have power and we should not be here to use this organization to further our resumes. The interests of the 40,000 members of the student body far eclipse our own self-interests.
No one will dispute that this session of the ASM has been rife with controversy, but it is time to prioritize the needs of our constituents. At the dawn of a statewide campaign to keep education accessible and affordable in the face of a crushing budget deficit, I hope that our battles can be fought together at the capital... not against each other in the dirt.
