Spring Break
ASCSU for Dummies: an analysis of the organization
Phil Elder
Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: Opinion
Editor's note: Phil Elder is a senator for the Associated Students of CSU. Any views expressed in this column are solely the ideas of the author and not necessarily those of the Collegian or of ASCSU.
If you ask an Associated Students of CSU senator what the biggest problem with the organization is, they would agree that it is a lack of transparency.
Students, as a whole, generally have no idea what is going on within senate chambers, and the senate has taken several steps in an effort to solve this problem, including appointing a senate media liaison to articulate for the Collegian the actions of the senate.
However, I am of the opinion that their measures, thus far, have been unsuccessful.
Thus, it is the purpose of this column to analyze ASCSU as a governmental entity and subsequently to clarify what it does, and has done, for the students which it is charged to represent.
In reflection of the pre-pubescent reaction of several senators to last week's article, I would like, before I begin, to clarify that this is not a personal attack on any single member of ASCSU, at any level, but rather a personal testimony against an organization that I see, in its current state of being, as a useless appendage to CSU's decision-making body.
This academic year has thus far seen 41 bills pass through the chambers of ASCSU, 25 of which were either amendments to senate laws or endorsements of random events and activities. To clarify what these terms mean, amendments are changes to laws that affect ASCSU and ASCSU alone, and endorsement means that senators argued for hours over whether the organization's symbol should be put on a T-shirt or a promotional poster.
Four of these 41 amendments remain germane to student life at CSU. The first two were attempts to eliminate plus and minus from the grading system, which were killed instantly.
The third was an expenditure of roughly $36,000 for Black History Month activities. The fourth was the $34.78 million expansion to the recreation center discussed last week.
If you ask an Associated Students of CSU senator what the biggest problem with the organization is, they would agree that it is a lack of transparency.
Students, as a whole, generally have no idea what is going on within senate chambers, and the senate has taken several steps in an effort to solve this problem, including appointing a senate media liaison to articulate for the Collegian the actions of the senate.
However, I am of the opinion that their measures, thus far, have been unsuccessful.
Thus, it is the purpose of this column to analyze ASCSU as a governmental entity and subsequently to clarify what it does, and has done, for the students which it is charged to represent.
In reflection of the pre-pubescent reaction of several senators to last week's article, I would like, before I begin, to clarify that this is not a personal attack on any single member of ASCSU, at any level, but rather a personal testimony against an organization that I see, in its current state of being, as a useless appendage to CSU's decision-making body.
This academic year has thus far seen 41 bills pass through the chambers of ASCSU, 25 of which were either amendments to senate laws or endorsements of random events and activities. To clarify what these terms mean, amendments are changes to laws that affect ASCSU and ASCSU alone, and endorsement means that senators argued for hours over whether the organization's symbol should be put on a T-shirt or a promotional poster.
Four of these 41 amendments remain germane to student life at CSU. The first two were attempts to eliminate plus and minus from the grading system, which were killed instantly.
The third was an expenditure of roughly $36,000 for Black History Month activities. The fourth was the $34.78 million expansion to the recreation center discussed last week.
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