Scandal sets ASF back

When an active University of La Verne student was caught embezzling thousands of dollars from the Associated Student Federation (ASF) Forum’s coffers, the news broke at graduation, and the whispering was laced with tantalizing shock. How could he? How was it kept so quiet? Where was the money going?

What caused the problem? Was it bad bookwork? A slick scam artist? A few things overlooked? That’s part of the problem. But what about the loss of respect and accountability?

It all begins with elections. ASF officers frequently run unopposed. It is not a campaign because there is no competition. Members get into the Forum and after a year, they work their way to a higher rank. The student body then places its “vote” with that sole “candidate.” They do it without hearing any political promises, platforms, goals or fights that the Forum members are willing to wage for the students. There is no feeling of victory, thus no speech where the new officers face the students, saying, “We will do what we promised, we will insure your student rights!”

Instead it is a quiet move into the office, meetings begin and another year of ho-hum paper shuffling, meetings and party planning. No promises to students, no gratitude for their votes, little determination to make significant change. Students then have little or no respect for the sole candidate and the candidate knows that.

So why not steal from the pot?

It is a sad conclusion to what begins at election time. And though students are to blame for not stepping in and becoming the new peer politicians, ASF could do some bending as well.

According to Article XIII Section 7 of the ASF Constitution, officers must first be on the ASF Forum for one full year. Therefore, before energizing and leading the Forum with some new blood, participants must first enter as a smaller party and be exposed to the same old stuff. No wonder things have not changed and complaints have not been met. By that point, the boiling blood has cooled and we are again stuck with a “we-did-it-like-last-year” mentality.

Since this was implemented in 1987, elections have frequently run unopposed. In addition there have also been a few terms muddled with inappropriate billing procedures and raised eyebrows, with students asking, “Where was the money going?” We ask this same question today.

In April 1989, freshman Nikolaus Formanek challenged the rule, attempting to run as a write-in candidate. At that time, there was only one person running for the president position. He told the Campus Times, “The candidates are nice people, but comparing their leadership experience with mine, we run equal.” Maybe they did, but the rule was enough to keep Formanek out of the running. He was a student from Austria, but evidently he understood more about U.S. democracy than his American counterparts.

In our own national government, presidential candidates do not have to serve first in the Senate, the House or Judiciary. As part of our democratic idealism, we stand by the right to allow our peers to choose who they feel can best lead the nation, regardless of their standings in legislature, specialty committees or task forces.

Perhaps opening officer positions to “outsiders” may not change the lack of participation in ASF elections, but it is worth a try. New blood, with fresh, invigorating ideas may be intimidating and jarring at first, but students of this University can only hope for people who will lead our student government and think more about advocacy, better quality of University life and, most importantly, the need for respect.

Where was the money going? It went out of the student’s hands, along with the respect, accountability and energy of the past. That loss hurts us the most.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

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