The Semester in Review (Part I: The Good)

It was an interesting semester, but that's putting it mildly. The senate and executive branches - as opposed to a judicial branch, which ASUAF does not have, mind you - saw success and failure. These ups and downs were also experienced by the various directors and non-elected worker bees of the student government hive.

Since it's the season for giving, let's start out with the successes:

The biggest change the senate made this semester was in overhauling club council - the abhorred funding mechanism of UAF's 80+ active clubs. A better word then "overhauling" would be "eliminating." The senate - which ASUAF president Mari Freitag was keen to point out - created the council and could thus disband it at will.

Taking the place of the old congressional-style organization is an "ad hoc" committee. I place "ad hoc" in quotes because there is nothing "ad hoc" about a permanent committee. While I have stated on this blog before how much I supported doing-away with the council (adding that it would give the senate an automatic B in my grade book), what has been created in it's stead is worrisome, if only for it's lack of specificity. At the risk of repeating what I wrote in an article for The Sun Star, the committee does not provide for how it's members are selected or what the criteria for selection should be. If this is fixed in a timely fashion (i.e. over break or early in the spring semester) potential issues can be avoided. If it isn't, Jay Leonard (who I spoke to for the aforementioned article) will be right in interpreting this new committee as simply a power play by the senate; concentrating authority into the hands of a few senators and club representatives while stripping the majority of club-going students of rights. A key tool in the power-play rule book is smoke: be vague and you can interpret A to be B.

Rights, it is worth noting, are no where noted (har har) or enshrined anywhere in the ASUAF constitution or bylaws.

A very minor success - mostly for the senate and mildly for the students as a whole - was getting the word out that ASUAF existed. (Although, the response to questions on this semester's election ballot, would lead one to think that they have a lot of work ahead of them.) The senate was prompt in hiring Rosemary Paz as it's public relations director and Freitag was eerily wise in picking Josh Banks for government relations director. Banks, it should be noted, is a former ASUAF senator and can be found scattered throughout the ASUAF minutes of several years ago.

Eerily wise or simply astute, either way, Freitag picked the person most suited for the job. While tall, Banks is very unassuming and oddly un-charismatic. I reference his height because John Adams, our nations second POTUS, joked about fellow Virginian George Washington's knack for finding employment in the revolutionary cause, that being because he was always the tallest man in a room.

However, presidents aside, Banks has proved his suitableness for the job by organizing a pre-election debate and a post-election legislative meet-and-greet. While the debate was apparently lackluster the meet-and-greet was a roaring success; every Fairbanks legislator attended, the room was packed, and the event even received a write-up from the city daily. I will add that I felt a certain pity for the student government (and director Banks himself) - the only mention of who put on the legislative chat was to be found in two photo captions, but not in the article itself.

In essence, ASUAF was successful this year thanks to Josh Banks and SB 177-018, which disbanded club council. Will those dual successes hold weight against the failures?

Check back soon to find out.

Unsubscribe? ERROR 404

Apparently, it is impossible to unsubscribe from President Gamble's listserve. I've spoken to Kate Ripley and Izzy Martinez at Public Affairs about this. Kate sent me a long email detailing they whys of the situation. It sounds like, because he's the president, he needs an open route to all UA staff and faculty email addresses. I'm considering writing something up for the paper, but if I don't, I might just put something up on here.

Unofficial election results

Everyone who ran unopposed won their election.

Working on something bigger

I've been working on a larger post concerning all of the interesting challenges that the Sun Star has been navigating through. I don't think it's fair to have a blog that focuses on UAF student politics that doesn't address it since it's been OH such a big deal (no sarcasm implied). I will, maybe, come out with it after the election next week (Nov. 29-30). Maybe.

Special Political Issue

The Sun Star, the college weekly I maintain this blog for, will be publishing an issue dedicated to the ASUAF elections this Nov. 29 and 30. It will have - or so we intend - bio's and photos of everyone running in the election, as well as a break down of any ballot initiatives or questions.

Look for this issue to be out Nov. 29!

Internal Affairs committee gets new meeting time

Minor news flash, but for any readers interested in going to the meetings of the Internal Affairs committee, they have a new meeting time.

Friday. 2:30 p.m.

Be there. Or, you know, don't.

Change of plans for the MPC

It turns out I will NOT be on the Master Planning Committee this Fall.

I spoke to Lydia Anderson (an MPC member) over email and she said that while herself - and the board - appreciated my willingness to serve, they were looking for someone who could do the job for the full term. All I will say is it's already November.

Mari Freitag, ASUAF president, has sent out a second email looking for a student to fill the vacancy. Which means, if you or someone you know, is a UAF student who'd be interested in serving on the committee, email Mari at president@asuaf.org.

Will Mari or Lydia find someone soon? In all honesty, I don't think either of them will. Especially not before the end of the fall semester. The last student representative was Nikki Carvajal and she was president herself at the time.

But, I hope they do find someone. It's a student position on an official UAF committee that oversees (primarily) the practical application of aesthetic ideals on campus. So, they make UAF look pretty. At the very least, my fellow students, it'll look good on a resume and you'll get management experience to boot.

In recap, the student position on the MPC is open but will most likely stay open. I invite all comers to prove me wrong.

UAF's H20 permits a-okay

I did a little proactive snooping around the Dept. of Environmental Conservation's website and discovered that, yes, all of UAF's water permits are in order.

If you care to check them out, here are links to their documentation:

• UAF Life Sciences Research and Teaching Facility_2
• UAF Life Sciences Research and Teaching Facility_4
• Arctic Health West Parking Lot Improvements

For you intrepid data-miners out there, here is the link to the DEC's public database. If I could, I would like this on Facebook SO HARD.

What is the difference between those two Life Science permits? Well, "2" expired June 2011 and was addressed to Cameron Wohlford while "4" is valid until January 2016 and is addressed to Scott Bell. Other then that, your guess, dear reader, is as good as mine. 

The Master Planning Committee is a committee of master plans

Well, it looks as if yours truly has been appointed as the student representative to the Master Planning Committee (MPC), pending both the senate and chancellor give to "okay."

For those unfamiliar with UAF's bureaucracy, the MPC acts as an an advisory committee to the universities chancellor, Mr. Brian Rogers. "Its charge is to assist in the implementation and continual update of the current UAF Campus Master Plan," according to the MPC's webpage.

However, I am sure many of you read the above quote and went, "Say, what, now?"

The Campus Master Plan, to put it in plain English, is the master plan for UAF. What this means in plainer, if less tautological English, is that the master plan is UAF's very long "honey do" list.

Just a few of these "to-do's" include:

• integrating "teaching and research through building location and use"
• ensuring the "campus environment enhances both the academic and student life experience"
• improve access to and circulation within the campus (I'm assuming, of course, this refers to blood - LOLJK)
• preserving and highlighting the "unique natural and cultural aspects of UAF's northern location"
• enhancing "space quality and maximize effective utilization"
• employing the "best practices in sustainability for northern environment"

Yes, I am sure some of you (again) went "Say, what, now?"

That section above only includes UAF's "short-term" goals, items they hope to accomplish in the near-future. Sadly, none of these goals had a timeline attached to them, which means "short-term" is, or so I am assuming, between 5-50 years. I say that because if UAF was the Corleone family and the master plan was a hit-list, it would take years (and many more movies) to make sure all of UAF's Guido's and Gino's were sleeping with the fishes. There is probably no timeline because the shear number of "things we need to fix" is so daunting. I know as a voting member of the MPC, I'd like to find out how UAF is doing on their  hit list to-do list. This is not to cause trouble, but to simply figure out how UAF is doing it's self-created itemized list of action items. [That last sentence should have filled my buzzword quota for November.]

I promise that if all goes swimmingly and I am indeed appointed, I'll be sure to give my readers updates into the mind and workings of the MPC. I know I'm pretty jazzed to get started.

Update: Of Grades and Senators

A lot has been going on with the senate this semester and I will most likely be giving it an overview and grade come December. Right now? I'm giving it a solid C+. Which, I shouldn't need to remind anyone, is average; it's good. It's the "doing your job" level. Right now, the senate has a lot of projects in the works that, if they can come to fruition by December, will boost them up to a B or maybe a B+. No promises.

What will get them a B, automatically, is the passing of SB 177-017: Club Council Ad-Hoc Committee.” That bill would abolish the club council and create a committee instead. Clubs would still submit funding applications - and receive funding - but without the boring and unnecessary club council meetings. This bill will provide a massive and much-needed overall to the club funding process.

President Mari Freitag, over the past two weeks, has appointed a string of new senators (Blake Burley, Fred Brown, and Rusty Young) the senate is investigating water quality issues on campus, and it looks like the senator training video will be made. Next year.

Are there any issues my readers my readers would like to see blogged about?