OUR VIEW: ASUSU restructuring a dangerous idea

ASUSU must have taken a page from the handbook of England’s King George III.

No, they haven’t changed the school colors from Aggie Blue to British red and they aren’t mandating the quartering of ASUSU officers in the dorms of college students. They are proposing a plan that could lead to putting too much power in one person’s hands – namely the president of ASUSU.

ASUSU is currently working on setting a date to hold a special election that would give the president of ASUSU power to appoint vice president positions according to how he or she desires. This would throw the current system of electing certain vice presidents out the window and give the president of ASUSU a dangerous power.

One of the greatest needs for the American colonists to declare independence from England was the principle of taxation without representation. If the ASUSU resolution is passed, the students of USU will face a similar problem. We elect our officials to represent us and our needs, including keeping tuition and fees to a minimal, providing meaningful activities and protecting the overall interest of all students. If these people are appointed rather than elected, we as students lose our representation and hand over power to the president of ASUSU and his or her appointed cabinet to do whatever they like. Sounds pretty un-American to us.

Too much power in any one person’s hands is extremely dangerous. Our country has established a series of checks and balances to prevent something like this from happening. While it may not work perfectly all the time, if all politicians lived to the guidelines contained in the Constitution, there would be fair representation and a balance of power. The current setup of ASUSU provides a similar balance and should not be changed.

But this isn’t all, ASUSU has a bee in its bonnet and is trying to change other aspects of the election process. First up, the president would select a running mate to campaign for office. This isn’t a terrible idea. As ASUSU President Peter McChesney pointed out, if a president selects a running mate, there will be less conflicts and a better vision of where ASUSU should go. But that’s also a great disservice to the students at ASUSU. Sometimes the best ideas come out of these conflicts. If everyone always agrees on every issue, it probably means one group of students at USU is not being represented.

Another curiosity of this proposed bill is to eliminate the primaries. Why? One of the fears of candidates is the lesser-known competitor who will steal away votes. Eliminating the primary will leave a large number of candidates who will be splitting votes down to a hair.

ASUSU often bemoans the fact that voter turnout is so low. If that is really a concern, then shortening the election process surely won’t help matters. The proposed plan would create a four-day election turnaround. Four days is too short for students to decide who they want to vote for. We don’t need to turn into the U.S. presidential election madness, but there should be enough time to thoroughly examine the candidates and choose those who will best represent students. Primary elections help with this process.

Students, if this election actually materializes, please shut down these proposed changes. If they pass, they will establish a slippery precedent. If nothing else, realize that with less representation accountable to you, the chance of tuition and fee hikes rises dramatically. Vote no on this ASUSU bill.