Thursday, October 11, 2007
Heads embiggened
Speaking of the ASUC, check out this quote from our website:
The Associated Students of the University of California are the elected representatives of the UC Berkeley student body. Um, no. Seriously. What the fuck is wrong with these people? Yes, we know our elected officials like to think of themselves as the ASUC, but the fact is that every Cal student is a member of the ASUC... sort of. Membership definitions are unconstitutional right now. Still, any Cal student is eligible to call herself a member.
As the collective voice of the students, we build student power through leadership development and opportunities for empowerment. Whenever someone mentions the ASUC official apparatus as the "voice of the students," remember that our turnout is somewhere around a third. A huge majority of students don't vote for ASUC officials.
Each spring, the UC Berkeley student body elects 25 ASUC officials: the 5 ASUC executive officers and the 20-member Senate. The five executives are the President, Executive Vice President, External Affairs Vice President, Academic Affairs Vice President and Student Advocate. Other, non-elected
components of the ASUC include the Judicial Council, the Graduate Assembly and SUPERB. Haha! They went ahead and said it! The Graduate Assembly is indeed unelected, but usually officials lack the balls to point it out.
We are a member of the University of California Student Association (UCSA), the coalition of student governments from all UCcampuses. Also no. UC Davis student governments are not part of the UCSA anymore. It looks like a radical redefinition of the word "all" is in order.
Founded in 1887, the ASUC is a non-profit organization, autonomous from the University. The ASUC is funded by a $55/year mandatory student fee... Autonomous also requires redefinition, it seems. Not only does this autonomous organization rely on the University to coerce fees from students, it can be dissolved at the whim of the Chancellor of the University campus. Yay for quasi-autonomy!
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