Vis Lupi Est Grex

I've read your opinion and S.T.A.R.T's platform. And it's in my opinion that while S.T.A.R.T may not have all the answers they have several ideas that you may have been quick to overlook as valid. For one, what's wrong with a voluntary A.S.U.N Senate? Local Nevada county C.A.B's are voluntary, and they operate just the same without the tax payer's money (unless you include the power bill of the host facility). Why shouldn't civic duty be reward enough?

Vaughn,

I agree that civic duty is a reward, but the money that ASUN Senators received (only about $400) isn’t a reward, it’s compensation for their time. There is a huge difference between a reward and compensation, and I think you can have both. Does the reward for civic duty decline with the more that people get paid? All this little amount of money does is help these extremely busy students pay their credit card, buy an iPod, make their car payment, or whatever. And since they only get it once a semester, it’s really just something you don’t think about as a Senator. No one does this for “the big paycheck,” they do it because they care about the University and the students. But there’s no reason why they can’t also be compensated for their time.

The problem I have with the S.T.A.R.T plan is it doesn’t do anything different that what already happens. They aren’t advocating taking away compensation, just changing how it’s paid out. They want it to go directly to the ePAWs bill, instead of in a check to the Senators. Either way it doesn’t really matter, the money will still come out of ASUN’s budget, and if the Senators have already paid their bill (which they have to because they don’t get paid until late into the Semester), the cashier’s office will just issue them a check anyway. Absolutely no difference.

S.T.A.R.Ts plan isn’t really a plan, it’s just a way of stirring the pot and getting students pissed off that Senators get paid. It’s a tactic to make themselves look more fiscally conservative while not actually saving the Association any money. I hope students don’t fall for it, it’s reminiscent of the “gas tax holiday” proposed by John McCain during the election, it’s just a political tactic to look good without actually doing any good. Luckily the American people saw through that ploy and hopefully the Students will see through this one too.

It's amazing what one can find on the Internets.
Aside from Wolfie’s comments, with which I generally agree, I have a couple of reasons why an all-volunteer Senate is a poor idea. First, and foremost, the members of the Association have spoken directly about compensation. In the 2008 election, the members approved a ballot question authorizing the Senate to increase the compensation of its members (text of measure). The question passed with 57 percent in favor (certificate of general election results). The question requested the voters’ authorization for the Senate of the Associated Students to fix by law the compensation of Senators at a maximum rate of $1,000 per year plus the cost equivalent to 14 undergraduate credit hours per year. Given the vote of the students, it would tend to suggest that they are in favor of increasing senatorial compensation, not lowering it. The current Senate declined to increase the compensation beyond what is now law--presumably in reponse to what was back in April a projected deficit in the ASUN Budget--which is the equivalent of the cost of 3 undergraduate credits per semester, or $801 per year (section 8 of ASUN Public Law 75-13. Senators are hardly getting rich off of their service.

But perhaps more important is the fact that there is an opportunity cost with respect to serving in ASUN. When compensation for one's time is not equivalent to or greater than what one can earn elsewhere, it tends to narrow the pool of students who can afford to serve. If, as a student, I cannot afford to spend time in ASUN government because of lost wages, I will not serve. You then have a situation where only the students who are well enough off financially will serve.

There's nothing wrong with a volunteer Senate per se, but when one considers the policy reasons for providing sufficient compensation for senators' time, it becomes clear it is more desirable.

To provide further reason why START's position is flawed, even assuming that the University would pay for direct credit waivers, thereby relieving the liability from ASUN's budget, it would have an adverse impact on a student's eligibility for other scholarships. The fact of the matter is the current stipend method was not just drawn from a hat, but rather reflects conscious policy decisions. If START had spent a little time researching these positions, and sought out experts who know these things better than they do--as I have--and actually have listened to them, their positions would likely be more reasonable.