ASUNM not an accurate representation of students

Editor,

ASUNM Sen. Tim Serna’s complaints in the April 18 edition of the Daily Lobo about the recent ASUNM election miss the point.

The People slate has done a great job of raising awareness in both this and last summer’s elections that ASUNM is not an accurate representation of UNM students. This is a statistical fact. Before The People slate won seats in last fall’s election, ASUNM was 86 percent Greek and 68 percent athletes, even though only three percent of UNM students are Greek and only nine percent are involved in athletics.

Concerned students are justified in wanting to “end the reign of Greek and athlete representation in ASUNM.” This is not an indictment of sororities, fraternities or athletes — this is an indictment of the lack of representation and the resulting lack of democracy at UNM.

Serna and The People slate did not lose because of a Progressive Student Alliance e-mail or dirty politics. They lost because 91 percent of students on this campus don’t care. On this count, ASUNM is an accurate portrayal — Greek and athletes make up a majority of the nine percent of students who bother to vote.

Apathy is the culprit. Apathy allows the Board of Regents to raise tuition every year, the Student Health Center to disenfranchise Student Educating Peers About Sex, campus hate crimes to go unpunished and, ultimately, for The People slate to be defeated.

For those of us who are not content to sit by while apathy rides roughshod over our campus, there is an alternative — showing up. A great opportunity presents itself to do just this today at the People Before Profits parade and rally outside of Zimmerman Library. Students from World Bank Bonds Boycott Committee, UNM Anti Sweatshop Coalition and the Progressive Student Alliance are joining with others to stand down apathy and stand up for justice.

-Michele Kramer

Political Science junior