ASUNM has more on its plate than Homecoming dances

Editor,

I am an undergraduate at UNM who is about to graduate. I have attended this University for a long time. I've watched slates and ASUNM presidents come and go. I've seen firsthand the apathy that many undergraduates feel toward their student government. I've seen various organizations receive my hard-earned student fees when I felt they did not deserve them. I've often lamented what seems like a failure on behalf of ASUNM to maintain a strong connection with the student body they are charged to represent. I understand the seductive ease with which one dismisses student government's purpose as trivial, or worse, damaging to student interests within the broader University.

So it is with familiarity and understanding that I must disagree with Beth Johnson when she says that undergraduate student government's focus is the "Homecoming football dance." We are a large university; we interact within a community of interconnected yet, at times, competing interests. Few would argue that student government is pointless altogether. But when student government fails to adequately and accurately represent those who elect it, a disconnect forms, one that must be bridged to uphold a sense of accessibility and relevance of student government.

The truth is ASUNM has far more on its plate than Homecoming football dances. ASUNM has an entire office solely dedicated to lobbying for lower tuition rates. These are the folks who bring hundreds of students to the Legislature to lobby each year. In the coming year, ASUNM will have one of the largest voices in decisions regarding new dorms, a new gym, campus sustainability, campus safety and the funding of student organizations. ASUNM has organized several forums this year alone for students to discuss changes in financial aid and advisement. The president of ASUNM is consulted on every major decision affecting undergraduate student interests.

I understand why Johnson holds her mistaken opinion, and in many ways ASUNM is at fault. But for the first time, I sense a change. The Lobos Unidos slate offers the opportunity to elect a truly representative student government, one as diverse as the student body itself. This is what UNM undergraduates deserve, for this diversity offers the best first step toward bridging the gap between student government and those it serves.

Wesley Morton

UNM student