Proposal will help ASG serve students better
This is not just another Barack Obama rally. The most recent proposal for ASG reform is not a revolutionary cry or a plot to change just for the sake of it. The proposed amendment to the ASG Constitution – to be debated this Wednesday (today) – is a carefully constructed attempt to reconfigure Northwestern’s student government so that it can more effectively help students.
After all, the purpose of a government is not to deliberate or legislate or pontificate. The purpose of a government is to serve. ASG has been so married to details, procedure and code that it has lost sight of its core mission. The proposed reforms will refocus ASG on service, providing new opportunities for the organization to aid students rather than delay them. More specifically, the amendment would create two new positions, collectively making ASG more synchronized, more sustainable and more flexible.
First, the Vice President would serve as an advocate-in-chief for student concerns related to services and academics. Currently, the muddled bureaucracy within ASG’s advocacy network produces overlap and confusion. The Vice President would coordinate demands from students with ideas from students in order to package a clear message to the administration. This affords our student government the flexibility to adopt promising new ideas and respond to new interests.
Second, a human resources director would seek to recruit and train an ASG team that is committed to serving student interests. The HR Director would also serve to constantly evaluate and re-evaluate the organization based on anonymous feedback from ASG members and the student body.
These “modest” proposals have not been without their critics. Some ASG officials say that the ASG Constitution is “sacred” and should not be changed. Many would disagree, including most students who, rightly or wrongly, consider ASG illegitimate. The Constitution is designed for these students. Though we do not purport to write on behalf of the entire student body, the four recently-elected ASG Executive Board members represent campus-wide calls for reform. All four support these changes. However wedded individual members of ASG may be to the Constitution, they signed up to serve students, not to protect an amalgamation of formulaic text.
Others may ask, “If one of the problems is bureaucracy, then why add more positions?” While bureaucracy in government is unavoidable, mismanaged bureaucracy can be avoided. These new positions do not add another layer to the current bureaucracy; rather, they serve to synthesize the disparate projects that the various ASG bureaus currently perform. They seek to avoid the miscommunication and redundancy that too often accompanies bureaucracy.
Still others may question our original claim that this amendment is designed to serve students.
If the goal is service, then why focus on internal reform? Simply, a broken system minimizes the ability for students to use their government and for their government to serve them. It is only with a better system – with a fresh ASG – that students can see their government not as a stop sign, but a helping hand.
Neal Sales-Griffin
ASG President
Vikram Karandikar
ASG Executive Vice President
Nate Perkins
ASG Student Services Vice President
Michael McGee
ASG Academic Vice President
Samir Pendse
ASG External Relations Director
Jesse Garfinkel
ASG IFC Senator
Claire Lew
ASG Treasurer
Jilian Lopez
ASG Community Relations Director
Nausheen Sasha Shaikh
ASG Communications Director
Paul David Shrader
Maggie Jim
Malavika Srinivasan
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“The letter shown above was not the final version, so we have decided to post this letter below in response. This is to provide continuity with the letter posted in The Daily.”
ASG, no longer a stop sign, but a helping hand
The most recent proposal for ASG reform is not a revolutionary cry or a plot to change just for the sake of it. The proposed amendment to the ASG Constitution – to be debated this Wednesday (today) – is a carefully constructed attempt to reconfigure Northwestern’s student government so that it can more effectively help students.
After all, the purpose of a government is not to deliberate or legislate or pontificate. The purpose of a government is to serve. The proposed reforms will focus ASG on service, providing new opportunities for the organization to aid students rather than delay them. More specifically, the amendment would create two new positions, collectively making ASG more synchronized, more sustainable and more flexible.
First, the Vice President would serve as an advocate-in-chief for student concerns related to services and academics. Currently, the muddled bureaucracy within ASG’s advocacy network produces overlap and confusion. The Vice President would coordinate demands from students with ideas in order to package a clear message to the administration. This affords our student government the flexibility to adopt promising new initiatives and respond to new interests.
Second, a human resources director would seek to recruit and train an ASG team that is committed to serving student interests. This position would also be responsible for objectively evaluating the organization based on anonymous feedback from ASG members and the student body.
We want to assure the student body that the efforts behind this proposal were in no way done to exclude others. We decided to act in a way that would efficiently produce a comprehensive, well-researched proposal to present to Senate, one that would stimulate the most discussion possible and make the greatest impact to ASG.
The Constitution is designed to serve the students. Though we do not purport to write on behalf of the entire student body, the four people elected campus-wide embody the voices of this change, all of whom support these amendments.
Others may ask, “If one of the problems is bureaucracy, then why add more positions?” While bureaucracy in government is unavoidable, mismanaged bureaucracy can be avoided. These new positions do not add another layer to the current bureaucracy; rather, they serve to synthesize the disparate projects that the various ASG bureaus currently perform. They seek to avoid the miscommunication and redundancy that too often accompanies bureaucracy.
Still others may question our original claim that this amendment is designed to serve students. If the goal is service, then why focus on internal reform? Simply, a broken system minimizes the ability for students to use their government and for their government to serve them. It is only with a better system – with a fresh ASG – that students can see their government not as a stop sign, but a helping hand.
We humbly invite students to attend ASG senate this evening at 7:00PM in the Norris Northwestern Room to show your support, and voice your concerns.
Respectfully,
Neal Sales-Griffin
ASG President
Vikram Karandikar
ASG Executive Vice President
Nate Perkins
ASG Student Services Vice President
Michael McGee
ASG Academic Vice President
Samir Pendse
ASG External Relations Director
Jesse Garfinkel
ASG IFC Senator
Claire Lew
ASG Treasurer
Jilian Lopez
ASG Community Relations Director
Nausheen Sasha Shaikh
ASG Communications Director
Paul David Shrader
Maggie Jim
Malavika Srinivasan
Mike
May 28, 2008 at 3:54 am
Just to clarify for our readers, we received the initial letter at about 11 p.m. Tuesday, with a request that it be published. We published it soon after. We then received a request to replace the first letter with the one that is now posted to the comments, but our policy is to not retract or change published articles except for typos, or factual corrections or clarifications, which are then clearly labeled.
Tom Giratikanon
Tom Giratikanon
May 28, 2008 at 4:05 am