If you asked most students on this campus who Eli Judge is, they would probably recognize the name even if they didn't know specifically that he is their campus alder. If you ask those same students who Ashok Kumar is, their chances of knowing who he is are considerably lower.
As our two student representatives, Judge on the Madison City Council and Kumar on the Dane County Board, they have a unique opportunity to reach out to students and make our voices heard when it comes to city and countywide politics. However, first they need to listen, and so far we've seen mixed results.
Since his election in April, Judge has exceeded many of our expectations on the City Council, taking the lead on the issue that matters most to UW-Madison students - safety - by helping establish and maintain the ASM Downtown Neighborhood Watch Program. He also passed the Textbook Ordinance and fought against the Alcohol Licensing Density Plan.
According to Judge, he does this by being open and accessible to students.
Seeing as keeping the pulse of a district is one of the hardest and most important tasks an elected representative must maintain, I have been reaching out in several ways to try and grasp a constantly up-to-date view of my residents,"" Judge said.
Through his blog and the ""Alder Hours"" he holds at Memorial Union twice per week, Judge's presence on campus is well known, which explains why more students know who he is and are willing to contact him with concerns. ""Some residents could also tell you that I am
no stranger to house calls,"" he said.
Since his election in April 2006, Kumar has been accused of being out of touch with his constituents. During his time on the county board, Kumar has passed a housing equality ordinance and a fair labor ordinance, both of which he ran on during his campaign. He has also tried to create a bus line directly from the downtown area to the airport and plans to introduce a measure to clean up Dane County lakes.
Are these out of touch? No, not really. However, it is the other, more radical, initiatives we hear about that make us wonder if Kumar really has his finger on the pulse of UW-Madison students. For instance, many, including the Wisconsin State Journal, deemed his resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney a waste of time for county government.
Seeing as Kumar believes impeachment is the most important issue for the county board, which he himself said in a Capital Times article, the idea that he is out of touch with students is easily perpetuated. Unfortunately, he does very little to combat that image. Although Kumar does make his e-mail and cell phone number available to the public, what good does that do if we aren't aware that he wants us to contact him?
According to Kumar, to reach out to students in his district - which includes two more wards than Judge's - he attends ""a number of classes, student groups and community meetings"" to discuss the effect of county policies on students. Kumar also said he is continuously involved with ""student of color organizations"" as well as the Campus Anti-war Network and the Student Labor Action Coalition.
""Having run with the Green Party, Socialist Party, and Progressive Dane Party endorsements, I am unabashedly leftist and that is where my politics have always been,"" he said. ""However, this does not limit me in listening to all my constituents' concerns which I have done since the day I stepped into office.""
I'll acknowledge that Kumar meets with student organizations, but what about the other 80 percent of students he represents who are not participants in those organizations? In light of Judge's stellar performance as a student representative, the perception of Kumar as inaccessible and out of touch grows every day.
Whether it's justified or not, we must keep this in mind in April when we move to replace Kumar on the Dane County Board - he has said he will not run for re-election - and elect someone willing to put forth more effort in reaching out to students. Someone who will start a blog and hold ""Supervisor Hours."" I'll be happy as long as Austin King stays far, far away.
Erik Opsal is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
