Let’s talk politics. Student government to be precise.
As some of you may possibly be aware of, ASUW Senate elections are coming up. I can tell because of the students standing throughout Prexy’s getting in my way as I hurry to class.
ASUW likes to present themselves as being important to the UW campus and the student body. This despite the fact not many students don’t realize what they do. I would bet the majority of the student body couldn’t even tell me what ASUW stands for. And that’s the easy part of the equation.
ASUW has a part in choosing where some of our money goes, student fees and all that, but this is money most of the student body never sees. So why do we even care that much about it?
RSOs actually get allocated the money from the student fees we pay each semester. ASUW representatives say money goes back to the students through the RSOs, but if you think about it, how many RSO events do you go to?
Members of RSOs see the money given to them from student fees sure, but is that number a significant enough one that the whole student body can be considered a benefactor?
My first three years as a UW student I was a member of an RSO, and the money allocated to my club by the ASUW from student fees was nice indeed.
Since I quit the RSO way of life, I can’t say I have been to a single RSO event where I saw my money in action.
Now I am not saying the ASUW is moot. Far from it, after all they are still the “voice” of the student body, and well, someone needs to be.
Current Vice President Kia Murdoch said one of the many things ASUW does for students is to research issues that affect us and make progressive and proactive changes as the world around us evolves. Maybe what they do is hidden from plain sight and we just don’t recognize it because we are used to things being nice.
Perhaps we try and experiment: what do you think would happen if our student representatives stopped doing their jobs and let the campus be ASUW-free for a few weeks? Do you think the student body, as a whole, would even notice? What kinds of effects would we see in their absence? Would we appreciate their presence more?
Who knows, maybe there would be a massive difference in campus life, and then we would all have more of an incentive to go out and vote. It’s possible.
It is time for ASUW to show UW students why we need them and help students see the importance of the student government. Because if things continue on the track they are on now, I won’t be looking for that 26 percent to go up; rather I expect it to plummet.
