Since its inception in 1917, the Associated Students of CSU has
been a central voice for students, carrying student opinions and
concerns to the administration at CSU and the legislature in
Denver.
Through the years, many legislative bills have passed and CSU
voices have been heard in the senate chambers.
This year ASCSU started the volunteer-based RamRide program and
facilitated the San Francisco Ram Road Trip.
“We also worked hard at getting rid of first year seminars,”
said Jesse Lauchner, ASCSU president. “We told Dr. Penley it was an
issue for students and (the class was) not needed.”
In December, the first year seminars were officially eliminated
from the core curriculum.
Resolutions, or a way ASCSU makes suggestions to the university,
were passed this year, including the standardization of the
plus/minus grading system and the requirement of bike helmets on
campus.
Although ASCSU has no real authority on the bills and
resolutions it passes, certain issues that affect the student body
create an opportunity for ASCSU to take charge.
Denver Police
In 1999, the Denver Police Department tear-gassed CSU fans at
the Rocky Mountain Showdown football game. ASCSU reacted by
demanding a formal apology from the Denver Police Department and a
review of their policy and procedures.
In the days following the incident, the student government set
up phones and phone numbers in the Lory Student Center Plaza for
students to call and complain to the Denver Police Department. The
huge number of callers jammed the phone lines that week.
KCSU
Before it was the student-run radio station it is today, KCSU
was a professional public broadcast. In 1994, ASCSU passed a
resolution that supported a student-run station, citing surveys
showing students were interested in a student-managed station. This
caught the attention of the vice president for student affairs, who
helped place the station in students’ hands.
A voice on the board of governors
With the authority to speak on behalf of the student body, the
ASCSU president sits on the board of governors at CSU, but has no
vote. When issues that affect students are discussed, the ASCSU
president is the person the board will turn to for input.
Dave McKelfresh, former ASCSU president in the 1973-74, was the
first president to sit on the board, which was called the State
Board of Agriculture at the time.
“They passed a legislative bill putting a student on the State
Board of Agriculture the summer before my term,” McKelfresh said.
“I was there to represent student perceptions and provide a student
voice. Before that, there was no student or faculty
representation.” McKelfresh, now the director of staff training and
support at housing and food services, said tuition, fees and
parking on campus were the main issues ASCSU dealt with when he was
president.
‘It’s 30 years later and we’re still dealing with these issues
as major concerns on campus,” Mckelfresh said.
Legislative voice for students
During the 2002-2003 school year ASCSU President Dave Bower and
Vice President Jessica Chavez created a coalition to lobby on
behalf of students in the Colorado state legislature.
“We gathered information from various departments and students
on campus that the legislature would have an effect on, and we took
that down to the capitol” Bower said.
“We wanted to be very respectful, organized and educated,” he
said.
Bower said the students who want to voice their concerns about
CSU, have an organization to turn to for support.
“ASCSU is the spokesperson for that voice.”
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