By Jeff Schrade
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 26, 1998

Student gov't fights time

To the Editor:

When I picked up the Wildcat on Monday, I was appalled to find the opinions board assailing the same first amendment rights which allow them to print freely. Monday's staff editorial "Government Behavior Matters" called for the resignation of two ASUA officials because they accused ASUA candidates at a public forum of "not knowing enough about the jobs they were running for or the issues they were running on."

First Amendment rights aside, ASUA is not prevented from serving the students by officials such as Melvin and Katzenbach sharing their opinion in an open forum. The true culprit of ASUA ineffectiveness is time. Most ASUA officials, elected and appointed, do their best to understand and deal with the wide range of issues that fall into their jurisdiction. However, when they finally get the hang of their job and ASUA begins to make progress, the entire office is purged through the process of an election.

Complicating the time problem, ASUA officials tackle the same issues that the university administration devotes full-time staff and many of our tuition dollars to cover. Yet, student officials in ASUA still have to devote precious time to their schoolwork, jobs and other extracurricular activities. Although there are some ASUA officials who squander the potential of their office due to laziness or some other affliction, the great majority of ASUA officials devote much time and effort to improving life for students at the University of Arizona.

On March 3 and 4, about 7 percent of the student population (less if it rains!) will enter the voting booths to select new ASUA officials. Were Katzenbach and Melvin (neither of whom are running for office) wrong by speaking their mind to candidates in an open forum? No, they simply care enough about their areas to make an issue of candidate ignorance. Were they right in suspecting that candidates who do not put adequate time into researching their issues will probably be ineffective in an ASUA office? Certainly, but can anyone be fully effective in the current system? Only time will tell!

Jeff Schrade
Political Science and Economics Senior
ASUA Graphic Affairs Director