USG hopes for strong year of cooperation

After what observers have called the most eventful year in the history of Undergraduate Student Government, insiders are talking about the past and present state of student government at SIUC.

Ed Ford, the current student trustee and incoming vice president of the Graduate Professional Student Council, has been active in student government since 1995. During the time he has been here, Ford said he has seen student government build itself around two purposes: allocating the $450,000 students pay for activities and allowing all students to get involved.

But right now those things are in great danger, Ford said. "I think the long term implications are that we won't have a student government," Ford said.

When next year begins, president-elect Nate Brown said he would do his best to radically change the way student government handles the activity fee. In his plan, he wants to use paid professionals in the Student Development office and leaders of larger Registered Student Organizations to take the burden of funding off the senate.

Brown has made it no secret that he considers USG to be a dysfunctional and inefficient organization. In February, he proposed disbanding it and replacing it with the Association of Undergraduate Students, a government he designed. Brown brought his idea to the senate and a group of six senators called for him to resign as vice president. Brown complied shortly after, saying he could help the student body more effectively outside USG.

Brown left, but he only got 500 of the 5,000 student signatures to get his new government on April's election ballot. After the failed political move, Brown decided to run for USG president and won the April 19 and 20 election by more than 100 votes.

"USG sucks. Let's change it," Brown said several times during his campaign. At the April 27 USG meeting, Ford pleaded with senators to remain active and to question ideas that threaten student government.

"Recently, we have elected a president who has said 'I don't agree with these things,'" Ford said. "Now, I'm calling on you to stay involved. Senator Cratic. Senator Moore. Senator Edmonson. Senator Fruth."

Ford read the names of senators and pounded his fist on the podium until he was asked to make his point.

At Wednesday's meeting, Brown made a speech of his own, telling the senate that while he does see flaws in the system, he isn't opposed to working with senators.

"I will be the first to say that I want USG to be productive, but I will not hide from our faults," Brown said. "I ask each of you to join me in uniting student government, student organizations and the student body."

Involved students agree that the organization is not as effective as it could be, but opinions differ on how to make the group stronger. From Brown's point of view, getting more power means making administrators realize the opinions of student government represent those of the entire student body.

"Our strength and our leverage lies in numbers," Brown said. "We are 15,000 strong, but before we can command that power that we have, we must first prove that we respect, understand and live up to our responsibility." Next year, Brown wants a research team to poll every student on campus, and he said he would use these results to give student government goals to work toward. Once it solves some real problems for students, they will see more involvement, Brown said.

"It's a lot harder for the administration to brush off 15,000 students than it is for them to brush off 50," Brown said.

By looking at history, Ford said students should realize involvement needs to be increased but more important than anything is gaining complete control over more money.

Full-time students pay $31.90 for the student activity fee, $75 for the Student Center, $89 for the Recreation Center, $113 for the athletic fund and $35 for the mass transit system. It is this money the students need to control, Ford said.

"I really think students should have a proportionate role in the decision-making based on the proportion they pay," Ford said. "If you pay, you should have a say."

If students began a mass boycott in which they pay all their fees except the one that goes to the Student Center, then the University would have no choice but to let students allocate that money, Ford said. The administration would give in to student demands before it would turn away its entire enrollment, he said. The total amount of money Ford said he would like students to control is more than $3 million.

But Brown said getting control of more money should not be USG's priority. "Student government spends too much time on funding and not enough time on other stuff," Brown said. "The money makes USG blind to the issues."

If the leaders of student groups and paid professionals from Student Development helped make funding decisions, student government would be free to encourage more involvement and tackle student issues, Brown said.

Current USG president Tequia Hicks, who also promised change when she was elected in 2004, thinks that controlling the fee is important but said she does not agree with Ford that student government gets power from the money.

"What gives USG extra power is student involvement," Hicks said. Wednesday's meeting saw Hicks weighing in on what needs to be done next year in student government. She took a position between Brown's radical change and Ford's continuing on the path, when she addressed the senate.

"When I was elected, I ran on a platform of fixing and changing USG and making it a machine," Hicks said. "There still needs to be a lot more building but don't knock over what's already there."

Brown, Ford and Hicks have all publicly urged this year's senators to return in the fall. During Wednesday's meeting, Hicks gave out various awards that recognized excellence in the legislative branch. An award for most improved senator went to Andy Fruth, who played a big part in revamping the finance committee.

"He started out as a quiet member. and he moved on to finance chair," Hicks said. During the spring semester, Fruth dealt with student government's financial issues during an overhaul of the constitution, which partially focused on making funding more efficient.

Mary-Kate Bredel has been the USG executive assistant for two years. Last year, the spring allocations took more than three hours to complete, Bredel said. Spring allocations at Wednesday's meeting took less than an hour.

Fruth has ideas for more than just funding. "One of the things I want to work on is getting the elections on SalukiNet next year," Fruth said. "We kind of obligated ourselves to do that because we struck out most of the poll workers from the budget."

Brown said he wants senators to return, so he can work productively with them, but Ford said the senators need to be there to make sure Brown stays true to the idea of student representation.

"My hope is that anyone who is involved this year will continue to be involved next year," Ford said. "Next year, the senate is going to have to organize itself."