ASF voted out for next year
Campus Times
May 15, 1998
cartoon by Stephanie Lesniak
In a random survey of 10 University of La Verne students, only one student
knew what the Associated Student Federation (ASF) Forum has done over the
past year, GameWorks. Two students said that they canceled the Lip Sync
and then tried to blame it on the student body for not participating. Three
could not remember anything and the remaining four did not even know what
ASF was.
Maybe this is the reasoning behind the lack of interest and participation
in the past election, or maybe it is ASF's poor method of marketing themselves
to the student body.
This includes the election process for some of the student positions
on campus. In the ASF Constitution and bylaws Article XIV, Section 7, Clauses
2, 3 and 4, states, "Candidates running for president shall hold a
class status of sophomore/junior/senior the year he/she holds office. He/she
shall also have held an ASF Forum member position for at least one year
and shall maintain good academic standing."
This limits the amount of students able to run to a select few. If there
are only 13 Forum members, then that only allows a possible 13 people to
run for office of ASF president out of the entire student body the following
year. Do these select few hold the best interests of the students?
By removing this clause it gives the students the right to choose their
president which would recognize the fact that students are mature enough
to choose and it does not need to be dictated to them.
Is it necessary to be on the Forum before one is eligible to run for
ASF president? If we compare ASF to the United States government, anyone
who is 35 years of age, has been a resident for 14 years in the United States
and a natural born citizen or a citizen of the United States at the time
of the Adoption of the Constitution, is eligible to run for office
If there is good leadership within the student body, we should allow
them the right to run for ASF president. Let students decide if he or she
is a good candidate.
This is when the candidates need to be heard by the students. We need
speeches, campaigns, and open forums. This is a well respected University.
Why is there only one sign posted, rather than a full blown campaign. High
schools do it, junior highs do it, why not ULV?
Given the fact that ASF has money at the end of each year, why don't
they allot each candidate who signs up $100 to run a sufficient campaign.
This would give students the resources to run a successful, well respected
campaign that they may not be able to run otherwise. The Forum's election
Committee should have a nice booth where students can vote, and set it up
in a place students can see it. They should also put a ballot notice in
all student mail boxes to notify them about elections.
If candidates go through this process, maybe they will have more motivation
to do something constructive while in office.
