1991_10 The Daily Collegian October 1991

              Staff Wrifers
Heidi Burkhardt, Brian
Cuttone, Stacey Dennehy,
Manny Fentajtdez, Aimee'
Fisher, YuTing Huang,
Michelle Martin, Renee
Rueks, J. Scott Walker,
Kimberly Wright, Syed
Zaheer
Sports Writers
Chris Cocoles, Dave
>—Ponnelly, Dim Evans,
}    Richard James .
Staff Photographer
Edgar Ang, Angel de Jesus,
Kyndra Gean
News Aide
Dee Erway
Columnist ^^
Frank Aviles, Bruce   I
Brenna, Michael S.
Handorf
Contributors
CatherineJigitet-Jiglaire, .
liz Morales, "Hu Sin, Erin
-    Yasuda
Sports Columnist
j Forest Fink
ArtSpeak Editors •
Jason Terada
ToddHeth  .  .
Business Manager
KhaUd Rashid
Advertising Manager
Brenda Marie Whitla
Advertising Production
Manager,     ^j .
■Lance Jackson
ASI fiscally irresponsible
The ASI has proven once
and for all what a truly irrespon¬
sible government they are.   v
After over three hours of   •
bickering, name-calling, mutu¬
ally shared misinformation and
accusations of hidden agenda
after hidden agenda, the Senate
voted not to consider any budget
proposals that will alter the
budget process for the fiscal
year.
Roughly translated this —'
means that the ASI will continue
to operate on the budget that
was approved by ladfyear's
Senate.
And when, at the end of the
yea r, the ASI comes up over
$100,000 short, they will just take
that money out of capital
reserves.
Sounds simple, right? Only
ifs not.
If the ASI thinks taking that
much money out of capital
reserves without even consider-
ing the ramifications that this
will have on future administra¬
tions and students, then they are
sorely mistaken.
And if you think that the
* Published since 1922
by
THE ASSOCIATED
"    STUDENTS, INC.
Editorial Headquarters
Keats Campus Building
Newsroom    278-2486
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students should not concern
themselves with the future of the
ASI, because surely they will
have graduated by then,
consider this:
It is only because someone
cared, way back when, that the
ASI exists today.
If the students do not vote
to raise the ASI back up to $16 a
semester, then the Senate will be
working with 50 percent of their
budget next year.
And if the clubs and
organizations think that they are
getting shorted the funds they
deserve, then just wait till next
year. *
To be honest, I wouldn't.
blame the students if they didn't
vote to raise the fees back up -
(although/ of course they
should). ,
If the ASI doesn't get their
act together, and soon, that is
exactly what is going to happen.
We can't expect them to be
fiscally responsible if they can't
even get through a simple
meeting without losing quorum.
And that, my friends, is
puro pedo.
Robin Hood economics must end
By Michael S. Handorf
Elected officials are a
strange breed. Such individuals
^orship another even stranger
breed, those being thtir-«>nstitu-
ents. For today's educational
discourse, we shall examinknot
only the activities and functions
of elected officials and their
respective constituents, but also
the relationship forged between
those two entities.
- Warning: There may occur,
from time to time, traces of
biting sarcasm within this
column. For those students who
are not yet frustrated, jaded, and
disgusted with the ASI and its
past injustices, you may wish to
consult with an upperclassmen
to fully appreciate this sarcasm.
Constituent, n. a person
who appoints another to act as
agent or representative.
A constituent is the life-
blood of an elected official.
Without the constituent, a •
potential elected official does not
become an elected official. The
definition of a constituent is       '
essential to one's understanding
of why the ASI refuses to act in a
responsible and fair manner.
Now one may ask oneself,
"Exactly how many students
would one argue a typical ASI
senator represents?" Well,
according to the election results
from last semester's election as
reported by The Daily Collegian,
each senator represents an
average of 360 students.
What the hell does all this
mean? It means that when the
ASI announces it wants to cut
funding to Intramurals, which
benefits some 5,000 students, it is
acting out of concern and total
allegiance to the ungodly vast
number of students (in some
cases, perhaps even dozens of
students) that actually put them
into power.
The ASI does not objectively
concern itself with the needs and
desires of the entire student
population (19,000 in number)
because less than 5 percent of the
population put them in office. So
the members of ASI are only
really concerned with their
friends, lovers and constituents
(even though it is difficult to
distinguish between the three).
The threat to cut Intramurals is
only a lame attempt to frighten
the 5,000 students that take part
in Intramurals to support the
thieves in the ASI office.
-   It is repulsive that such an
exceptionally small percentage
of students (no ASI candidate
received more than 33 percent of
the total votes cast last semester
and no candidate received more
than 4 percent of the entire
student population's support)
manipulates the Senate into
funding programs that are not
designed to incorpo. ate partici¬
pation from the entire schoo^   ,
despite the fact that the entire      ,
school pays.
What is even more disgust;
ing is that the leftist senators
have committed the ASI to
utilizing the ASI capital reserves
to weather the budget shortfall.
These individuals claim the
money will be "paid back" in the
next few years. Not only will the
entire campus be paying for the
elite few who are involved in a
small, special-interest organiza¬
tion now, but the ASI also wants
•the future students of Fresno
State to pay for the misallocation
of funds this semester.
Since the leftist senators
realize that their grip over all of
our money is waning, they have
chosen to deplete the ASI capital
reserves. These individualsjiave
no concern for the continued
existence of the ASI. they are
only concerned with spending as
much of our money as possible
before their terms end.
This era of mutated "Robin
Hood Economics," where
everyone throws money into a
pool that only a few can draw
money out of, must end. The ASI
was sent a clear message from
the students last semester that
we don't wal& to continue to pay
S32 a year to a government
whose only purpose is to funnel
that money to the most concen¬
trated areas of special interest
groups on campus* .
We will be payingonly $16
next year to the ASI if we refuse
to support continued taxation
without representation. This is
more than enough to fund all of
the campus-wide programs that
benefit all of the students at
FresnoState.
What's sixteen bucks? Ifs
really not that much But when
you don't get anything from that
$16 investment, it is a huge
amount of cash Most people
that I know don't just throw $16
into a nearby garbage can once a
year, except when they pay their
ASI fees. ■—,
The erratic and insane
funding of campus organizations
based solely upon the will of 4
percent of all of the fee-paying
students must end. The only
way to reduce the harm the ASI
is causing the average student is
to write the ASI a smaller check.
The leftist senators and execu¬
tives of the ASI have lost
complete sight of the entire
student population's desires. We
can nor let the ASI continue td
economically rape us semester
after semester.
Mr. Handorf is a columnist
for Tbe Daify CoUegian.
HBHBMnBl
-w-- w    ^  '■
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