ASUN ‘leaders’ need to show leadership
Every now and again, most students at our university wonder “What does the student government do?”
And for good reason: student politicians and figureheads accomplish less in one week than the average club president does in the same time frame.
Maybe that’s why the student government decided to shift responsibility over to the club presidents in trying to solve the problem with the suddenly expensive tutoring center. In their proposal, the government wants student clubs to serve as a surrogate tutoring center.
The idea of Student Organizations as Academic Resources is a creative, if not haphazard solution. Speaking as students, we want every resource available to help us pass our classes.
No, the biggest problem with SOAR is that it is indicative of how little the student government actually does. The fall semester started almost two months ago and it was never a secret that the tutoring center had started charging. It took almost that entire time for the student government to think up and plan this proposal.
It’s not even the obvious branch that is trying to help students in this regard – it is Clubs and Organizations, what used to be a glorified budget committee and organizational aid.
But then again, the senators in the obvious branch have been so overburdened with personal infighting and guest speakers that they wouldn’t of had time to solve any problems their “constituents” face right now.
We know there is a learning curve involved with becoming a senator: That is why they start their jobs in April. They had plenty of time to learn the ropes and do something for the students.
This, however, is the same branch that takes multiple tries before it can pass a simple resolution congratulating the retiring Chancellor Jim Rogers on fighting the budget cuts. It took a senator commenting on how little the senate has done to get this throwaway legislation off the table.
Then there is the executive branch. The students there have certainly gone to acceptable lengths to talk with students, though the tangible results have tallied to nil. “Executive board” is a great new name for the programming though.
Simply put, we are disappointed in our student government. We know strong leaders are hiding in that heap of bureaucracy somewhere. We just ask that you don’t let this be another year of “what does the student government do?”
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October 14th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Passing legislation to honor someone who, as history will surely show , did as much to hinder the development of higher education as they did to strengthen it, just to say “we’ve done something” is ludicrous. The Senate needs to do the correct thing and stop talking a salary, in what ever form it is currently in, until they become productive or can find away to make their perks revenue neutral.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Sadly, welcome to the realities of public administration. Things are slow. Could a club president do more in a week than the ASUN Senate can? Yes. Do they have to follow Nevada Open Meeting Law? No. ASUN Executive/Legislative Checks & Balances? No.
You are right, though. We could, and should be doing more. I will strive to do as much as I can with the time I have left.
Yes we “started” in April, but learning the ins and outs of ASUN, trying to figure out what in the hell to do with these budget cuts, and figuring out objectives takes time.
The SOAR program, I thought was a good and FREE compromise with the many students who demand to not have resources eliminated from the budget cuts, yet trow a fit when their tuition is raised by seven cents a semester. ASUN could fund the writing and math centers instead of clubs and orgs stepping in, but we have a budget to work with. If we decided to do this, programing and homecoming could be in serious jeopardy, if not eliminated. Is that what we should be doing? Its a tough question that has been asked recently.
Another sad reality with student government is that many, if not most relevant decisions are far out of are hands, and rest in the jurisdiction of people like Milton Glick, the Board of Regents, Shannon Ellis, etc.
I am sorry and take full responsibility for how little we have done, but I cannot apologize for how slow a legislative body moves by nature. The Senate in Washington DC isn’t much different i can promise you.
Nevada Students deserve better from us, and we will deliver. I appreciate your your honesty and directivity in this article.
-Pat
October 14th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Perfect! Couldn’t have said it better. The Senate needs to get up off their asses and actually do something. NOML isn’t an excuse, if you can’t post an agenda, you have serious issues.
There is so much that the Senate could be doing. How freaking easy would it have been to pass that resolution about Rogers? And despite your political views, he has done TONS for higher education. He’s the only one with the balls to stand up to the Governor and say what everyone is thinking. And this Senate couldn’t even say thank you. WTF?
And about the “salaries”, they get paid very little, which I guess this year is probably a fitting “salary.” I think the secretary makes more than a Senator. But for this secretary that’s probably too much.
Student governments in general have a hard time doing stuff but this one is like the retarded cousin of student governments. Did you know the “leadership” of the senate had to have a meeting about the basics of government? “This is a bill…” “this is what you should be doing as senators…” “Each college has a dean…” etc… Months into office they had to be “given the tools” to do their job. There are a few senators who are doing their job, and you can probably guess which ones they are because I think each has been in the Sagebrush. But everyone else, probably 15 out of 22 senators don’t do crap! They barely show up for meetings and when they do they don’t add to the conversation.
The budget cuts that are HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! will effect this University and us students FOREVER! and this government, specifically the senate, hasn’t done anything. One or two resolutions, but come on! No one has even written a resolution saying STUDENTS DON”T SUPPORT THE CLOSING OF THE WRITING AND MATH CENTERS…or STUDENTS DO NOT SUPPORT THE CHARGING OF TUTORING…or STUDENTS DON”T SUPPORT THE FIRING OF PROFESSIONALS… Sometimes in legislation you have to be blunt!
But even when the student government does try to reach out, no one shows up. How many people showed up to the President’s Town Hall that Reilly held? If regular students don’t expect more, they’ll get what we have right now.
Has the University Affairs committee held a hearing with Shannon Ellis or Dr. Glick about these budget cuts?
The Administration is trying to shove TONS of new fees on to students to deal with the shortfall, and the senate has speakers each week that talk about the THOUSANDS of dollars that are being added to students, and they barely ask questions. Or stand up and say NO! You know how hard it is for the administration to enact a new fee if the students don’t support it? It takes regent approval, and if the President or Senators come to that meeting and say HELL NO! It has a very low chance of being approved.
Thank you Sagebrush for FINALLY pointing this out! But are you doing front page stories on the impact of these cuts? The only way to get enough support to have change is to have this on students minds EVERY WEEK. These cuts will kill this university…let’s do something!
October 14th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Thank you Senator for your response. I noticed how you didn’t discuss the topic of your stipend/Salary but that’s a question for later. Open Meeting Law is not hard to follow. You have a requirement to post your agenda and minutes in a timely matter so that interested parties are notified to your intentions. What part of the Open Meeting Law is troublesome to this Senate? Perhaps, if you had a secretary that didn’t also have other responsibilities, some of these problems could be dealt with. Please do not pass the blame for your unsurprisingly do-nothing-Senate on to Administration.
As to being able to balance your budget that is the sole reason there is a Student Senate. It is not so you can pass resolutions for people the Senate likes or dislikes. You have to balance the budget. I’ll tell you “what in the hell” you do with your budget cuts. You cut more. However, I attended Elli’s presentation on the state wide budget cuts and was told, through his presentation, that ASUN was not affected.
If you really want to help- you, and your fellow Senators, will start recommending cuts to the UNR budget that minimize the effect on students instead of winning about what will get cut.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
For clarification,
ASUN budget is not directly effected by the cuts. That information that you got from President Reilly is correct. However, when the University imposes cuts, and those effected turn to ASUN for help, our budget can be impacted.
Brian- The stipend topic?
Taylor- You are the only person who gives SPECIFIC ideas as to what should be done. Many critics of government have plenty of complaints with only generic solution proposals, if anything at all. Thank you. As for the issue of NOML, yes, senators should know how to post an agenda. But NOML limits how fast you can react to any given situation. You were a Senator, you know this. Also, if one mistake is made, it can throw off a committee, and by that the Senate for a week. But thats Bureaucracy in a nutshell…..
October 14th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I’m sorry, is cutting the budget not specific enough for you? Is asking the Senate to list items that they would recommend for a budget cut not specific? All Taylor did is tell you to pass a resolution saying “students are this or students are this”. Thats the kind of specifics do you want? How about the Senate pass a resolution saying “The students understand the current economic situation forces the university to have to evaluate their financial choices and wishes to let it be known that the Senate would rather see the tutoring center get funded than continue the movie night series, or the Senate would rather see class course options remain the same and in exchange students would be willing to allow the closure of the student diversity office.” Why do you feel the only logical choice is to bemoan and lament the fact that the money for nonessential programs is just not there?
October 14th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
“I’m sorry, is cutting the budget not specific enough for you?”
-No. Where do we make the cuts? That decision as to where these cuts should be made doesn’t come easy. Please, enlighten us.
“the Senate would rather see the tutoring center get funded than continue the movie night series, or the Senate would rather see class course options remain the same and in exchange students would be willing to allow the closure of the student diversity office.”
That is obviously what YOU want. Is that what a majority of student wants? Perhaps.
Yet again, these sort of answers are not obvious, and in order to responsibly occupy a representative office, one must contemplate such decisions thoroughly. We COULD help fund such academic programs, yet Programming might take a serious hit. This is an issue that students seem to be divided pretty seriously on, thus yielding some serious thought into making a move as a student senate.
October 15th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
To clarify I wasn’t singling any one Senator out or any one committee that is not doing things, I think everyone could be doing more:
Academics: Are you guys having hearings on the cutting of class sections or has anyone introduced legislation about the tutoring or Math & Writing Center?
Campus Community: Are you considering any legislation at all?
Budget & Finance: I know I talked to Gracie about the budget cuts stuff but you can’t be focused on bringing everything that is being cut from the University under ASUN, it’s not possible and it’s not what the money is for. Your committee also functions as the audit committee, you should be making sure that every dime is accounted for. Has Sandy given you access to CASE yet? It’s your committee’s job to dole out the money but also to make sure it is used for what the senate intended. If programming is over budget or C&O isn’t using the money like you said they should, it’s you job to fix it.
Government Ops: Last session we passed a constitutional amendment, it went on the ballot and was passed by the students…why hasn’t that gone to the Regents’ yet? It’s not the president’s job.
Public Affairs: I bet I can name 3 people who you guys should recognize right now. You should send out an email with the help of Sandy to find people that are contributing to the University. Who has donated to save the band? That’s something you could do. You could recognize Cashell for coming up with the idea to save the band. Rogers, just do it again. And I think this committee should take a position on 20% state cuts. That’s what’s going to happen, and it’s your job to write something that says what ASUN’s position is. Even if its. F-THIS! It’s still saying something.
Like I’ve said before, there is a lot to do! If you have any questions about my suggestions or want more, feel free to ask!
October 15th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I just wanted to let Bryan and any others know you can ALWAYS contact any senator about these issues through email or visit us specifically during our office hours. Check out the ASUN website, click on Contacts, then click on 76th Session Senators to locate one of us.
I don’t think venting through the Sagebrush is going to solve anything. Thanks and hope to hear from you all soon! :)
P.S. Taylor–the Academics committee has moved on to advocate help towards SOAR. We have not yet proposed any legislation towards this until the kinks of the program get worked out.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Here’s an update on ASUN Budget and Finance (Taylor):
- We are not focused on bringing in every program from the University budget cuts—it really hasn’t even been a focus of discussions; it just isn’t realistic.
- I have received CASE sheets from Sandy, but the office that updates the budget hasn’t updated it, yet.
- We are bringing in all depts, programs, and publications within ASUN to discuss the budgets with them in the meetings, so we can know exactly where everything is going.
We, the ASUN Senate, thanks you for your constructive (some) criticism, and I can assure you that the committee chairs and senators are working hard to find solutions to the university budget cuts and address other issues on campus. Please come to a committee meeting and listen to the proactive discussions. If your not satisfied, please contact your college Senator and discuss the issues that concern you.
With all respect,
Gracie Geremia
senatorgeremia@asun.unr.edu
October 16th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Taylor- You lost your re-election. Move on with your life.
Bryan- You STILL support Jim Gibbons. Obviously you are so stuck in your political party that all of your opinions are irrational, therefore irrelevent.
As for the student politicians, you have no real power outside of sponsoring and conducting canned food drives. Don’t be too hard on yourselves.
October 16th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Jack,
From what I read in the Sagebrush and on this Web site, Taylor is more engaged regarding the budget crisis than at least half the ASUN senate, including the current Senator Anderson. You should follow his example and get involved instead of criticizing someone who is involved.
As for their alleged lack of power, they do control a $1.5 million budget. I’d call that some power. Also, they speak with the voice of the entire undergraduate population, and people to whom they talk recognize that. If only the senate would recognize that, things would get done.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Jack-
Student government in general does not have as much jurisdiction as I would like it to, but like Megan said, we do control a +million dollar budget. Saying things like you did makes you lose credibility.
Now, as for “voicing student opinion”. I think its pretty well understood that nobody supports cutting the tutoring centers. But what would a Resolution saying “we the students don’t support this” do? Act as a desk ornament to a UNR administrator’s desk? The cuts are coming. WE CANNOT CONTROL THIS. Before we send off legislation that JUST says “We don’t support this”, we need to come up with alternatives to have a better chance to persuade higher ups.
October 20th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Okay, I guess I will throw in my two cents on this issue. I wrote the legislation recognizing chancellor Rogers and I will stand behind it. He is a great man who has done many things for the Nevada System of Higher Education, I read his updates weekly. Some may find him controversial, yes, but you cannot deny the work he has done.
As for the stipend, Senators were supposed to get a raise and it was passed by students last year. However, the 76th session declined to enact our raise because of the budget cuts. We have not approved the raise for the next session either and I’m not sure if any senator will approve a raise until our fiscal climate is better. Bryan, I hope that tells you something about the integrity of our Senate.
I want to stress the importance of putting the necessary time and effort into the Senate’s deliberations. Just because you don’t see thousands of pieces of legislation doesn’t necessarily mean that we aren’t doing anything. We are focused on producing quality work. If anyone would like to come discuss the math and writing center, University Affairs will be discussing it on Wednesday at 2:30pm in the JCSU. Also next week we’ll be having speakers concerning the cuts of Career Servies and its affect on students.
The Senate as a whole has consulted with Shannon Ellis, president Milton Glick and the Provost. I also know that most, if not all of the Senators have met with their respective deans and individual college councils and advisory boards.
To the sagebrush– I appreciate the dialogue you have facilitated.
Constructive criticism, suggestions, and ideas are always appreciated and you can contact me at senatorrichards@asun.unr.edu.