Even while some voters shrugged off this year’s ASG candidates as more of the same — all talk and no action — lobbying efforts on at least one front made a difference: $5.
Only a month and a half after Senate passed a bill calling for a reduced WildCARD replacement fee, administrators responded by changing the fee from $20 to $15, effective Sept. 1.
Allison Hall Sen. Alex Seeskin wrote the bill initially requesting that the fee decrease to $5, but said he was content with the compromise.
“It’s refreshing to see the administration take into consideration a concrete student request,” said Seeskin, a Weinberg sophomore.
Director of University Services Brian Peters said he had already been discussing a change with administrators, but the Associated Student Government made it happen.
“This kind of pushed it right over the edge,” Peters said.
As student services vice president, Adam Humann, who was inducted as the new ASG president Wednesday, passed the legislation on to administrators. He said he believes ASG can address other student concerns.
“If we had more credibility with the student body, then students would come to us with these things more often,” said Humann, a Weinberg junior.
To do this, he plans to put ASG legislation online and use the Oracle of the Lake Web site, so students can pose questions to administrators and search responses, once the site becomes available.
He said he also would encourage senators and new executive board members to talk to their constituents, and might publish a newsletter of student concerns.
“If students think of small things like this and pass them on to senators, then maybe we’d see more direct, concrete changes all the time,” Humann said.
Speech junior Ginger Harreld said the reduced fee would not have a great impact but that it might help.
“It won’t feed the homeless,” Harreld said. “(But) it’s the little details like that that make life easier.”
The replacement fee covers the cost of the new card and of running the WildCARD office. Peters said the office already has increased efficiency to soften the reduced fee’s impact. Others schools charge up to $25 for a replacement and for the initial card, he said.
Some cards can access sensitive areas of buildings or provide privileges not meant for someone who picks up a lost card, according to Peters.
Humann also recognized the need for a fee. “It covers the cost, but it makes it so the WildCARD isn’t just like water,” Humann said.
But Seeskin said losing the card is inevitable.
“I lost my WildCARD and will definitely lose it several more times over my three years here,” Seeskin said. “I definitely don’t want to pay $20 every time.”
