Editorial: ASUC-ing Money Away

ASUC has caused some pretty crazy shenanigans in its time as one of the nation's semi- independent student governments. In fact, it's usually not hard to find the humor in whatever situation arises, such as the current political melodrama: Sen. Yvette Felarca's suit-for the seat she's already sitting in-is finally being settled.

But even if students can find any sort of funny in the latest ASUC entanglement, it's Felarca who will laugh last. ASUC is essentially paying the Defend Affirmative Action Party senator $15,000 to cover fees she spent attacking the student government. Forget about adding insult to injury-this is injury to insult, in a time when financial burdens upon ASUC are already high.

The seeds for the case were planted last summer, when the Judicial Council under former Chair Mike Davis threw DAAP out of elections because party members were badgering council members during a hearing. Felarca's party threatened to sue ASUC on the grounds that it disenfranchised voters. In a gracious (and prudent) move, President Misha Leybovich bent the rules to allow the Judicial Council to reverse its decision, offering the olive branch to the party in the hopes that officeholders' ruffled feathers would be smoothed over.

In one of the most backhanded displays of senatorial gratitude, Felarca decided to go ahead with the suit, claiming that not all her concerns had been addressed. This, mind you, was after a federal judge dismissed the case, since everything Felarca's party had wanted-their seats-had been restored.

In an effort to restore democracy to ASUC, the erstwhile DAAP senator decided to sue their pants off.

Perhaps the Daily Cal is missing the logic, but exactly how does expending the time and resources of the body meant to serve the students qualify as democratization? Maybe democracy is actually spelled W-A-S-T-E-F-U-L.

As a senator, Felarca knows the financial woes of ASUC. It's hard enough to fund student groups without tying up scarce resources in a self-centered vindictive court battle. The bylaws that compelled the Judicial Council to expel DAAP need to be addressed; there's no question about that. But if Felarca really wanted to improve the system, she would have brought it up within the senate and discussed the issue with her peers. In other words, she would have done her job. Instead, she compromised ASUC's integrity by taking the fight outside of Eshleman to the state and federal levels.

ASUC did its part in trying to smooth things over. It adjusted the punishment for her party's childish behavior, which is unbecoming in senators, to say the least. Leybovich even bent bylaws to get the Judicial Council to reconsider DAAP members. Given the controversy caused by bylaw inflexibility, many in student government were already talking about changing them.

Now, after legally strongarming ASUC into paying for all her political playtime, any coalition-building attempts on Felarca's part will probably fail. Instead of streamlining the judicial and electoral processes, all ASUC has now is a loss of $15,000 and a surplus of bad blood.

Were Felarca concerned about students, she wouldn't have wasted our precious resources. Though the money will be drawn from the legal defense fund and not the spring budget, ASUC finances inevitably come from student pockets.

With that in mind, let's see how much more productively ASUC could have utilized 15 grand, minus Ms. Felarca:

Bought 200 decent bicycles and started a bike-share business.

Saved 3,750,000 square feet of rain forest in UC Berkeley's name.

Provided 1,071 classrooms in an impoverished country with blackboards to facilitate education.

Paid a student's rent for two years.

Extended AirBears to more parts of the residence halls.

Helped out 1,000 of the most economically disadvantaged students with textbook costs.

Provided a month's worth of nutritious meals to 1,000 orphans for more than eight years.

Covered the fees of two in-state students for two semesters.

Covered the stolen ASUC Bookswap money nearly twice over.

In fact, this money was just about as filched from ASUC as that defenseless bookswap safe was.

The point is, while ASUC may see the financial wisdom in cutting their losses and capitulating early, they shouldn't have to. Felarca and others involved in the suit are solely responsible for the unnecessary expense-they should shoulder that burden themselves, not dump it on students.

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