As Wednesday turned into a pseudo-summer day with shorts, flip-flops and skirts abound, it certainly became difficult to focus on anything to do with school.
Next to final projects and exams, there is one responsibility most students forget to take care of: ASUW General Elections, happening next week.
Personally, I have not always been a fan of what senators and executives do during their sessions.
Heck, I have been downright furious at the laziness and despotism that some representatives showed, such as former executives threatening the Branding Iron after unflattering articles were published.
On the flip side, if I had to choose between ASUW and no representation, I would pick ASUW every single time.
We need to realize the student body mostly hears the “bad” things that go on in the senate and its committees. I mean, when was the last time your professor went out of their way to tell you your work was absolutely satisfactory? Chance is, never. The same is true for ASUW.
We often forget how important student representatives are to the student body as a whole. They are the ones who get to know faculty and staff on campus. They are the ones who can use those connections to get the student voice heard. And most importantly, they get to handle the student fees we dedicate to different events, RSOs and departments on campus.
For all those students out there who do not vote during at least general election: you have no right to complain about ASUW. If complaining is not your style, but you still do not participate in the election, my question to you is: why not?
Student voter participation has been increasing over the years, but has not been over 30 percent for entirely too long. It is unacceptable only a third of students get to decide who represents us as a whole. That number is so low, it even makes the presidential election voter numbers look good and that’s just embarrassing.
Your representatives get to decide how senate will allocate roughly $1 million in fees. That is a lot of potential projects we can get done around campus.
The most well-known project that arose out of these funds is SafeRide, a service a great many students take advantage of. Many of us would be stranded or in jail if not for that project.
So, enjoy the sun for as long as it lasts (we all know it won’t be long) and start educating yourself on what the different representatives claim to stand for.
Almost all of them have created Facebook pages with general information about themselves and their platforms. Then, log onto WyoWeb April 14, 15 and 16. During that period, it will take about 15 minutes to go through your college candidates and the president/vice-president tickets.
Voting is important. Let’s get to it.
