Student body has never voted on ASG involvement

TO THE EDITOR

The decision before Student Congress this coming Tuesday is not one of deciding the value of UNC’s participation in the UNC Association of Student Governments, but whether we believe in the fundamental tenet of student self-governance: the primacy of the decision-making power of the student body.

For the nearly four decades since the inception of the ASG, the student body has never voted on whether UNC should participate in ASG or not, nor did we in 2002 when the $1 fee was levied by UNC General Administration.

While my own effort to remedy this failing on the part of student government was defeated through parliamentary chicanery (a decision that ignored the established precedent of referenda in the past), Student Congress will once again be allowed the opportunity to rectify the situation and approve a referendum that will allow us to determine our participation in the ASG. We students are the ones paying the fee. Why should we not be allowed to decide if we participate or not?

I cannot understand the opposition to the idea of allowing students to vote unless it is to preclude the option of students voting to pull out of the ASG. Yet there is no certainty which way the student body will vote, and the ASG would stand to gain legitimacy by a vote of confidence by the student body at UNC. No matter one’s opinion of the ASG, both sides should concede that it is only proper that the student body be given the opportunity to vote.

Please contact your representatives by next Tuesday to relay to us your opinion of the proposed referendum on the ASG so that we can vote accordingly. Our contact information can be found on Student Congress’ Web site, congress.unc.edu.



Anthony E. Dent
Student Congress
District 6 Representative