Spring Break
ASCSU Supreme Court does more than you think
Ruthie Hubka
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Opinion
Since joining the judicial branch of Associated Students of Colorado State University, I've received utterly confused looks from friends, followed by the inevitable, "So, what does the Supreme Court do?"
A general poll of students would not probably shed much light on this question. It seems to be a completely foreign concept to most that ASCSU has a judicial branch capable of making autonomous decisions that are binding on members of the other two branches.
If you're not familiar with ASCSU, you may wrongly be under the impression that student governments are identical, in both structure and responsibilities.
For example, the University of Northern Colorado Student Representative Council is one of the many universities without any judicial branch. Their SRC consists of a largely bureaucratic structure.
On the other hand, the University of Colorado Student Union has a judicial branch with a chief justice and six associate justices, like ASCSU. However, the UCSU justices hold only half the decision-making authority that the ASCSU Supreme Court does. But maybe this only demonstrates that old rivalries can devolve even to the level of organizational charts.
Like UCSU's judicial branch, the ASCSU Supreme Court holds internal jurisdiction over cases and disputes that arise within student government. For example, you may recall last year's appeal of the ASCSU general election, or this spring's case concerning senators' qualification for serving in the Senate. The CU-Boulder student judicial branch only hears internal cases like these.
If that was all that our Supreme Court did, I may never have joined.Â
The ASCSU Supreme Court's additional responsibilities make it different from most student judicial branches. The role that our justices play in the affairs of CSU students, usually below the radar, completely outpaces the activities of the other higher education institutions in Colorado.
As justices, we spend most of our time in a variety of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Services hearings, offering a voice for the students of CSU through our unique partnership with CRSCS.
A general poll of students would not probably shed much light on this question. It seems to be a completely foreign concept to most that ASCSU has a judicial branch capable of making autonomous decisions that are binding on members of the other two branches.
If you're not familiar with ASCSU, you may wrongly be under the impression that student governments are identical, in both structure and responsibilities.
For example, the University of Northern Colorado Student Representative Council is one of the many universities without any judicial branch. Their SRC consists of a largely bureaucratic structure.
On the other hand, the University of Colorado Student Union has a judicial branch with a chief justice and six associate justices, like ASCSU. However, the UCSU justices hold only half the decision-making authority that the ASCSU Supreme Court does. But maybe this only demonstrates that old rivalries can devolve even to the level of organizational charts.
Like UCSU's judicial branch, the ASCSU Supreme Court holds internal jurisdiction over cases and disputes that arise within student government. For example, you may recall last year's appeal of the ASCSU general election, or this spring's case concerning senators' qualification for serving in the Senate. The CU-Boulder student judicial branch only hears internal cases like these.
If that was all that our Supreme Court did, I may never have joined.Â
The ASCSU Supreme Court's additional responsibilities make it different from most student judicial branches. The role that our justices play in the affairs of CSU students, usually below the radar, completely outpaces the activities of the other higher education institutions in Colorado.
As justices, we spend most of our time in a variety of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Services hearings, offering a voice for the students of CSU through our unique partnership with CRSCS.
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