OUR VIEW: Actions should be clear and open

In any government or political system, one of the most dangerous things for citizens is to not know what is happening behind closed doors. The principle of democracy, which we hold dear, is centered around the idea that the people have a say in what goes on. When people elect officers to represent them, they expect their wishes to be heard and for their representatives to fairly and accurately reflect those desires.

The actions of the government should be open and available to the general public. We have the right and responsibility to know what our government officials are up to. They should hold meetings openly and then report back to their constituents on the items discussed and the things voted on.

Things are no different on the university level. Our own student officers were elected by the student body – as they are so fond of reminding us – and as such, have the responsibility to hold all their affairs in an open and public manner and then report back to the student body, their consitituents, about what they are doing.

This is extremely important. USU students are busy and cannot possibly attend all the ASUSU meetings. That being the case, we as a newspaper go to these meetings on behalf of the students and report what is happening. While some aspects of what goes on in these meetings are mundane, much of it direclty affects students. People are always complaining about the high price of tuition and fees. If you don’t like it, guess what, your ASUSU officers are responsible for much of what happens with that money. If you don’t like where money is getting spent, you need to talk to them.

For the most part, ASUSU conducts its activities in an open manner, leaving the door open to those who want to attend. But, this fact isn’t openly publicized, denying the student body a service they could more fully take advantage of. ASUSU has the responsibility to frequently and explicitly inform the student body when their meetings are and what will be discussed. This is not happening, at least not to the degree necessary for the student body to fully have their voice heard.

But while ASUSU does hold many open meetings, one meeting in particular has been closed to the Utah Statesman and the student body, one that should not be. These meetings involve the dealings of the Academic Opportunity Fund, which is concerned with giving public money to various members of the student body. Because public money that concerns the public body is being discussed, these proceedings must be open to the general public. A violation of this is a violation of the Utah Sunshine Law.

This is not some special privilege for the press. This law is designed to allow all people to know the dealings of government bodies, including those of ASUSU. And why wouldn’t they want the meetings to be open? It would surely improve the public image and shake a common perception of ASUSU being some secret, exclusive club.

While we don’t believe ASUSU is intentionally trying to keep us in the dark on their activities, they sure aren’t going out of their way to tell the student body, yes, those who elected them, what they are doing. This must change. ASUSU has a mandate from the people to represent them and they must do so fairly and openly. There are only a few subjects that permit the closing of a meeting, and ASUSU doesn’t have dealings with any of those subjects. As such, let’s open the doors and let the student body know all proceedings.