ASUW Board Obstructs Good Governance

Last Thursday the Board of Directors raised objections to a Senate proposed amendment to ASUW governing documents that would prevent Board members from holding voting Senate seats. This change is meant to ensure a common sense separation of powers between the Board and Senate. The Board's objection stems from a belief that such a restriction would sour relations between the two bodies in the future. It is unclear as to why this might happen as this separation is largely carried out in practice now.

The Board's objections to this entirely reasonable and necessary proposal are are petty and obstructionist. It is the responsibility of the Board to facilitate the constant development of a more representative and effective governance structure in ASUW and this is an easy step forward in the process. This publication urges the Board to put obstructionism aside, fully grasp their responsibilities to the organization they lead and pass this amendment without delay.

Senate Briefing (January 31)

This section keeps an eye on upcoming Senate legislation and provides useful information about it.

ON THE AGENDA THIS WEEK

Tonight the Senate will be hearing from two members of the Board of Regents for approximately the first half of the meeting. Additionally, the following pieces of legislation will be discussed:

SECOND READINGS

R-18-9: A Resolution in Support of Reducing the Foreign Language Graduation Requirement
This resolution seek to reduce the foreign language requirement in the College of Arts & Sciences from three years to two years in high school or the college level equivalent. The stated reason for this change is that students can not adequately learn a foreign language in the time required therefore we shouldn't burden students. Cutting a third of the requirement however seems to be exactly the opposite of the solution.

R-18-15: A Resolution in Support of Environmentally Friendly Ground Maintenance Equipment
This resolution seeks to ban gasoline powered leaf blowers in favor of more environmentally friendly alternatives such as electric powered blowers and rakes. This resolution fails to comment on the loss of efficiency, cost, and effectiveness of alternative methods and instead focuses on the negative health and environmental effects of the current equipment.

R-18-16: A Resolution Supporting the Resource Center for Student Organizations
This resolution simply states support for the continued funding of the RSO Resource Center on campus. It is unclear whether the resolution represents the abstract feeling of the Senate or if it is intended as a directive to ASUW representatives when it comes to voting on actually funding requests.

R-18-18: A Resolution in Support of Letter Grades

The idea that UW should switch from a 4.0 numeric scale of grading to a letter based (i.e. "A", "B", "C") system has been proposed to senate and rejected twice before. This will be a third attempt at getting this passed. It will be interesting to see if the mood of the senate has shifted since last year on this issue.

FIRST READINGS

R-18-21: A Resolution in Support of Voter Access Bills in the Washington State Legislature
This would support bills in the Washington Legislature aimed at making it easier to register to vote.

OA-18-2: An Act to Limit the Number of Cosponsors in the Senate Well
This act would limit the number of people who can stand in front of Senate and speak for a particular piece of legislation to three. This change would prevent the sponsors of popular or controversial legislation from stacking the front of the room with supporters in an effort to force the legislation's passage via intimidation. This is a good thing. It also makes the presentation more clear and coherent.

SB-18-1: A Senate Bill to Make the ASUW President’s Seat on the ASUW Student Senate Non-Voting

This bill would amend the ASUW Bylaws to make the ASUW President's seat on the Student Senate non-voting, citing separation of powers as the primary motivation. Currently, the President is the only member of the Board of Directors with a vote in Senate. This change would greatly benefit the ASUW as it would provide for further independence of the Senate from the Board of Directors. This is an important step toward a more responsible student government.

R-18-23: A Resolution in Support of Marriage Equality in Washington State

This resolution is pretty self explanatory.

SB-18-2: A Bill to Promote Separation of Powers by Amending the Constitution

ASUW This Week (January 28, 2012)

This section seeks to keep you up to date on the most important happenings around ASUW each week.

Tuesday Senate spent the majority of its legislative time discussing and eventually passing an omnibus Senate Rules and Bylaws update (OA-18-1) which included over 30 individual amendments to the Senate's operating documents. These changes together will strengthen Senate primarily through greater efficiency, transparency and autonomy. Three other pieces of legislation where passed with little contention concerning the establishment of lab space for Biodiesel production (R-18-11), participation in a national scholarship for U.S. Marines (R-18-13), and support for ASUW's lobbying efforts (R-18-22).

Thursday the Board of Directors had a full agenda with reports from ORG on lobbying efforts and this year's ASUW Advancement chair on progress made on the Husky Pride Fund and the ASUW endowment. The Board also reviewed the mid-year financial status of the association presented by the Office of Finance and Budget after giving permission to the American Indian Student Commission (AISC) to hold its annual Powwow off campus. The Board furthermore reviewed and passed the three Senate resolutions before it and took no action on the OA regarding Bylaws changes as those changes go into effect upon passage at the Senate level.

Senate Legislative Briefing (January 24)

Each week, The Caucus will publish a rundown of legislation on the docket for Senate. This will help keep the ASUW community informed about what is going on. Please see below for what is on the agenda for this week:

OA-18-1: The Omnibus Bylaws and Rules Update Act of 2011
This bill proposes a large number of changes to the Senate Bylaws. These changes are for the most part minor and uncontroversial however some changes provide Senate with more authority and flexibility which has made some Board members uneasy.

Overall these are beneficial changes. Support for individual amendments are largely a matter of personal preference.

R-18-11: A Resolution in Support of a Permanent Lab Space for the UW Biodiesel Cooperative
Coming soon...

R-18-12: A Resolution Expressing Opposition to SOPA
Coming soon...

R-18-15: A Resolution in Support of Environmentally Friendly Ground Maintenance Equipment
Coming soon...

R-18-16: A Resolution Supporting the Resource Center for Student Organizations
Coming soon...

ASUW This Week (January 22, 2012)

Senate was cancelled on Tuesday on account of deteriorating weather conditions. Legislating will resume next week (January 24).


Three days of snow have prompted the UW administration to cancel classes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday leaving students with three days to build snow forts, throw snowballs, and procrastinate on their homework.