ASG Twists the Rules for Bass

ASG insider Mr. Orange nicely sums up the enormous controversy generated at tonight’s Senate meeting.

Tonight ASG managed to embarrass itself again. While throwing the book at FMO-AAMA, it allowed presidential candidate Karyn Bass to get off completely. Why? Ms. Barr (FMO) offered explanations based on race. I feel it’s based on one thing—popularity. How many students have a deep concern over FMO-AAMA? For that matter, how many know what it stands for? Meanwhile, as was even stated during the meeting, we simply can’t let a favorite candidate be lost, regardless of our regulations. If we only want to do what most students like, why not throw out the Constitution, Bylaws, and election rules and simply appoint Roxanne as president, whether she wants it or not? It would be what we think most students want. (Not even what we know, just what we think we know—after all, nobody went back to their constituents and asked them what they thought about Ms. Bass’s situation.)

ASG will never gain respectability as long as it flaunts its own rules. If you stand by your rules and regulations, you can always defend your actions, even when people disagree with you. It’s the foundation the organization is built on, its principles. If you don’t follow them, then you have nothing to fall back on except “I wanted it that way”. Every time we make a decision that bends or flat out rejects the rules, a part of ASG leaves pissed off at itself. Should we expect respect from the campus when we can’t get it from ourselves? Maybe we can’t work completely within the current rules. If not, change them so we can. But once they’re set, follow them. Then you will be able to go back to your constituents and say “It was a hard decision, and it may not be popular, but we stuck by our own rules and executed them faithfully and fairly”, instead of “We played around with the rules, tried some parliamentary tricks, overturned well-researched decisions, and managed to do what we wanted, and to hell with a long term view”.

Following its own rules is the only way for ASG to be respectable.

—Mr. Orange