The History of Rule Violations

From our Chicago campus, a medical student checks in with his commentary on the Bass scandal and the current state of ASG. No—this is not just another opinion from someone who is disillusioned with ASG. In fact, our source describes himself as a “big ASG person” and cites his credentials: Exec Board, SAFB, Exec Committee, two-time campaign manager, etc. With that in mind, this commentator delves into the background of rules violations and applies knowledge of the past to the current situation. Take heed, mortals—the guru has spoken…

well, the asg senate has once again managed to prove its hypocrisy by overturning the decision to remove popular candidate karyn bass from the ballot. and this isn’t even about the fmo-aama ruling or any of the issues that the daily editorial staff came up with.

no, this is about history that unfortunately is just beyond the knowledge of the people now left in senate. in the winter of 1994, the daily uncovered a story that the asg president at that time, alix rosenthal, had overspent her $70 campaign spending limit during her election in 1993 by about $4, but had “covered it up” by asking the people at kinko’s to write her a receipt for less than the amount that she actually spent. when the news hit the asg senate, alix’s head was demanded, and the senators at that time not only circulated a petition to force her to resign, but also prepared to bring on impeachment proceedings. the intense pressure finally did force alix to resign, although she already was president and was practically on her way out.

in the 1994 election immediately following that scandal, nick siebers was kicked off the ballot for holding a kegger/party at his apartment as part of his campaign, since technically he overspent his spending limit in the process as well, even though technically he argued it was just a party. he eventually won as a write-in candidate, which was allowed in 1994. in 1995, the spending limit was raised to $75 or so, and that time, a candidate known only as “malaki” was kicked off the ballot because he unknowingly received a “discount” that some family friends gave him on a banner, without which his spending limit was exceeded as well. the latter case was actually taken all the way to uhas, the university appeals “court”, where asg’s decision was upheld.

so now, when the spending limit is raised to a whopping $100, an unnecessarily high spending limit (prices for making copies haven’t risen or anything), asg doesn’t mind when a candidate breaks the rules and overspends. after putting so many other people through hell and then some over relatively minor infractions, a candidate overspends her limit by spending and racking up fines higher than any asg candidate in history, and what’s the explanation? she’s popular! people like her!

or more specifically, the senate likes her. so by allowing her to violate election rules, the senate has just handed bass the election. no, the president isn’t really elected by the students, it’s elected by whoever senate is nicest to by allowing to break the rules the most. and that’s not anything new—throughout its history, the asg senate has not been swayed by rules or precedent or even what’s right, but by whoever had the most emotional plea. the stories i could tell—well, let’s just save that for another time.

and so now, do we honestly expect the administration to respect a president who, because she’s so good at being sorry, is allowed to break election laws that were so rigorously applied in the past? makes you wonder…

—Sharu