Failure, thy name is ASM
When The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board sat down to create this list of the five worst things Associated Students of Madison has done this semester, it faced one glaring obstacle from the start: We had to think of five things ASM had actually done.
Look down this list and tell us what impact its items had on anyone outside of the Student Activity Center.
That absurd amount of money ASM requested for training sessions? It was for internal training so members could better navigate the system they signed up to run. Firing, then re-appointing, then un-re-appointing its vice chair and nominations board chair? If you can find one student other than those directly involved whose life was affected in a meaningful way by that "scandal," we'll be shocked.
When we talked with ASM members in September, they had great ideas for the coming semester. They were going to increase access to financial aid and Pell Grants, help students get the IDs they'll need to vote in upcoming elections and launch a campaign to make sure tenants knew their rights. They were going to be involved in the community, both on campus and in the city.
What has ASM done to accomplish those goals? What have we seen our supposed representatives do in this lost semester?
They have accomplished precisely nothing, reaching a grand plateau of almost sublime irrelevance. Our hats are off to their triumphant display of uselessness, though we can only pray the spring will be different.
$100,000 internal training blunder
Perhaps no event better exemplified ASM's ineptitude than its self-appropriation of $100,000 for internal training sessions. It was, in a word, laughable. Sure, training can improve internal functioning and promote efficiency-The Daily Cardinal hosts alumni and workshops throughout the year-but possibly flying in alumni from New York and Los Angeles, paying for their hotels and covering their missed wages? The average high school student council has more common sense.
We're taking a wild guess: The majority of ASM alumni live in Wisconsin or the Midwest, perhaps right here in Madison. Can't find enough alumni to stop by for free? Take a hike up Bascom Hill and you'll find a world-class political science department. We also have a nationally ranked business school right on University Avenue.
Speaking of academic resources, ASM might want to stop by the communication and journalism departments-the only thing worse than this idea was their inability to sell it.
Benjamin Franklin once wrote that we are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. We can't say ASM is not without effort.
Musical ASM chairs
It's the Hokie-Pokie-ASM style! Over the course of the semester, Vice-Chair Beth Huang and Nominations Board Chair Niko Magallon were, at first, in ASM, then one month later they were out of ASM, then the two were reinstated back into ASM.
Feel shaken all about?
After Huang and Magallon turned in community service hours ordered in response to illegal campaigning on the deadline rather than before it, the Student Judiciary ruled the two be removed from their posts in ASM. But because this year's ASM fails to act as a cohesive body in every way, the Nominations Board and Student Council voted to reinstate Huang and Magallon to their posts-questioning the organization's supposedly democratic system. In response, the SJ laid a political smack-down and ordered the two to abandon their positions once again.
This internal tug-of-war only furthers our conviction that ASM is in needs of a reality check. Fighting for power rather than respecting and trusting each body's authority and competence has left ASM at a stalemate. Unfortunately, this problem doesn't seem to be getting through their heads. And since Magallon was just appointed back into ASM as Diversity Chair, we don't think it ever will.
ASM silent response to anti-Muslim ad speaks volumes
When the Center for Equal Opportunity claimed the UW admissions process unfairly favors black and Hispanic students, campus came out in full force to oppose the controversial study. Rallies were held on Bascom, 850 students descended upon Union South to watch an affirmative action debate and the hashtag "#uwequality" blew up on Twitter. And to their credit, ASM members were at the forefront of the debate, chanting into megaphones and organizing rallies on Facebook. As student leaders, they showed UW-Madison will not stand for such bigotry.
But where were those same leaders just a month later when The Badger Herald ran an advertisement that said all Arabs and Muslims are anti-Semitic? They were not leading marches down Library Mall denouncing these ignorant claims. They were not organizing rallies to show UW-Madison stands with its Muslim and Arab students. They were not passing around petitions to demand the Badger Herald apologize for running the offensive ad.
Did the CEO controversy tire them out? Or worse, did they not care? Do we pick and choose which students we stand with in solidarity? Whatever their reasoning, their failure to defend their fellow Wisconsin students from this vile attack was one of their worst inactions.
SSFC denies funding to more students
Yet another example of ASM's poor decision making comes from the Student Services Financial Committee's decision to revoke not only funding, but eligibility of the Multicultural Student Coalition. While this board agrees the initial $1.7 million funding request was a bit high, completely denying funds to the campus group was a poor choice. It further shows how ASM can more easily do harm than good.
MCSC is a vocal, positive group on campus. It provides a safe space for students to talk about issues and offers intelligent, customized seminars on diversity. These reasons alone are worthy of funding from the student body.
However, SSFC decided that MCSC does not provide enough "direct services," a vague description that continues to confuse both SSFC and student groups. When discussing the decision, SSFC Rep. Cale Plamann said the "burden of proof is on [MCSC]." This confrontational attitude is something that should be replaced with a collaborative, helpful process. These are student groups working with student governments; they shouldn't be fighting with each other.
ASM and its committees need to remember that they are here to help students. If guidelines are too vague or groups don't know what is happening, it is the burden of ASM to help these groups. If ASM continues down this path, they will surely grow more unpopular.
