In response to the Spring 2006 elections debacle and coup-like uprising of Student Government, a reactionary council opposing the Associated Students of Madison’s internal operations, ASM members said Sunday that they are seriously contemplating the formation of an internal reform committee.
UW-Madison sophomore David Lapidus, who is a member of ASM’s Student Services Finance Committee and Student Council, and a former Student Government member, said the failed spring election was only one concerning issue regarding ASM’s inner workings.
“In terms of election issues, those have been resolved very well—we’ve done a very, very, very good job with that,” Lapidus said of the paper ballot system ASM will use this fall during the Oct. 18-19 elections. “But there are a lot of things ethically that are still very troubling.”
ASM committee members can vote on decisions regarding their own removal from ASM and on salary increases for themselves and other committee members. According to Lapidus, these issues and others regarding the ASM budgetary process, including how quickly student organizations can grow monetarily, are principle reform concerns.
ASM Chair and UW-Madison senior Dylan Rath said the jurisdiction of Student Judiciary, elections and student organization funding criteria are potential issues a reform committee would discuss and debate.
Viewpoint neutrality, one of the university’s primary tenets, is always a concern regarding these controversial issues, especially regarding budget criteria, according to Lapidus.
Lapidus said ASM members rejected the concept of an internal reform committee last year because they did not expect the suggestion. This year, as ASM members draft the committee proposal, they will have to ensure that nearly all members, involved in the drafting or not, will give it a “yes” vote, according to Lapidus.
“That’s how a bill is supposed to come to the floor,” he said. “You don’t just surprise people.”
Lapidus and Sol Grosskopf, another Student Government member, said it was possible that the reactionary government will be reinstated if reform does not occur within ASM by Spring 2007.
