Today was the first time I ever voted in an ASUW election.
In the past it always felt like a waste of time for little gain. Why should I take five minutes out of my day to help out some overly ambitious nerd’s LinkedIn profile, especially when I never seemed to notice any benefit? Sure, I knew ASUW held weekly meetings and that they all claimed to “represent the student body,” but buying into the need for student government seemed akin to drinking the Kool-Aid at a cult meeting, especially considering the overt and often annoying positivity emanating from ASUW candidates in the Union breezeway (cult-like to say the least).
That was until I understood the impact ASUW can have.
SafeRide, a program that has likely saved many students’ lives, is the product of ASUW. WyoVocal, now in its inaugural year, is already proving to be an excellent tool for students to voice their opinions about UW and cause change on campus.
Moreover, ASUW has the ability to take stances on controversial on-campus issues as the voice of the student body. While I do not always agree with the stance that they take, I know the only way to effect that stance is by voting. Issues like concealed carry on campus will continue to come up, and ASUW will play a role in how those issues are handled.
This year’s crop of candidates has a substantial slate of issues before them. Students seem to despise the plus/minus grading scale. The Gardens is closing in spite of student’s clamoring to keep it open. Diversity continues to be the prevailing issue both in student government and on UW’s board of trustees.
If students are going to have a representative voice in any of these issues, it is imperative that students make it a point to vote for ASUW.
In the past I did not vote for ASUW because I was disenchanted and annoyed by a student government that I believed to be ineffective and useless. I imagine a lot of you are like I was. But choosing not to vote is not the answer.
Today students in fraternities and sororities seem to make up the only major voting block in ASUW elections, despite making up less than 10 percent of UW’s student population. To me this is not representative, and it is the fault of average, non-Greek students like myself for never realizing the impact a good student government can have and making a point to vote.
Some ASUW candidates will likely become the ineffectual resume builders that annoyed me in the past, but some stand a chance at making real change happen at UW, and it is important that as a student body we seek out those candidates and support them.
Make it a point to vote sometime this week.
