So we have elected a new ASUU administration-which means we have a chance to change ASUU for the better.
To the winners of this year’s elections, don’t allow a moment of celebration to overshadow the fact that you now have the chance to improve the student government.
Take this opportunity to think of ways to become more responsive to students’ needs. ASUU needs to be more visible and transparent to students because, unless students are aware of their student government, ASUU itself becomes completely illegitimate.
Don’t be puppets of the administration. Your job is to represent students and get them what they want-not force upon them what various committees think they need.
Make sure legislators attend their meetings and uphold Redbook by impeaching those who do not meet a minimum standard of excellence. Make sure members of the Executive Cabinet have set goals and are accomplishing them-and remove those who aren’t.
When, not if, things go wrong, don’t blame anyone but yourselves. Accepting responsibility for mistakes will go a long way in showing students that while you’re not perfect, you are respectable.
Don’t become complacent, thinking that whatever you’re doing is good enough just because you think you’re trying hard.
Be responsible with the power you’ve been given. Remember that the money you spend came from other students, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet.
You don’t need retreats. Any bonding or brainstorming can be adequately accomplished at the Union Building.
Don’t buy yourselves endless T-shirts-one for RedFest, one for Outbreak, one for voting, etc. If you want to be visible to students, let ASUU leaders buy themselves one generic ASUU T-shirt. Don’t waste funds printing up T-shirts that 99 percent of students will never wear and may not even see.
Think about the perks that ASUU is automatically given and decide if you really need them. Does the ASUU president really need an X parking pass? Do you really need your cell phone bills paid for? Do boards really need to go out to dinner together?
These are nice bonuses to your new position, and you may be justified in keeping them-but you could do a great deal to improve the level of respect the campus has for ASUU if you sacrificed them.
Above all, you, the new administration, need to try to genuinely improve the lives of students on campus.
This doesn’t mean giving students what you think they need-this means listening to them and then giving them what they ask for. Just because you think the U would be better off if more people joined Greek Row or bought into university health insurance doesn’t mean that everyone agrees with you.
Many U students don’t know what ASUU does or who the current president even is-and those who are aware feel completely unaffected by it.
The general consensus is that no matter who won the election, nothing in ASUU will ever change.
This is your chance to prove us wrong.