President Buenrostro Makes Some More "Promises" (But Can He Fulfill Them?)
(Excerpts from Daily Cal, September 2, 2005)
A Presidential Welcome
ASUC President Manny Buenrostro emphasized his dedication to representing every student at the university during his state of the association speech at the first ASUC Senate meeting of the semester Wednesday night.
The ASUC has never, in reality represented every student; 20 representatives can rarely ever meet the requirementrs of serving the needs of all the students. This has been a promise made from the beginning of the ASUC until the current day. For as many eyars as the ASUC has been in existence, it has failed miserably.
Buenrostro also said he was excited for the progress made on a final memorandum of understanding for operating the multicultural center, which he said would come before the senate in the next few weeks.
Let's be realistic. A multicultural center that serves all the students is fine and dandy, but doing it with student space that was sold out two years ago is questionable. What's going to go on in this multicultural center? Will there be lots of performances, that merit the cost of tens of thousands of YOUR dollars? The important thing to note is that Heller Lounge is no longer under student control, as it used to be.
Our mission to see the ASUC abolished can only come from the hard work of the people who respect and believe in demcoracy and individual rights. A system of government at Cal that wastes $2 million every year can hardly be responsive to the people.
To be honest, Manny seems like he really means what he's saying he wants to do. He is one of the most honest people I know in terms of what he WANTS to accomplish. This would be great if the ASUC was not an institution of power; within that institution there are power struggles. In the battles between Student Action, CalSERVE and whoever, the President has little say over massive change. Only the destruction of the ASUC can really create meaningful change. Manny's hands are tied like any ASUC president, by the ASUC itself.
posted by DTI @ 5:22 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
You need to start an ASUC sponsored organization dedicated to taking down the ASUC...
But seriously, you'll need a physical presence if you want to move forward. Hold periodic meetings and figure out what you need to do and how much help will be necessary. You'll need to look into the legalities of a petition, then actually gather signatures, and if it gets far enough, start campaigning and flyering.
The blog is good first step, but you can't go it alone or solely online.
I want ASUC disbanded because I am sick of these people running our finances, increasing our fees and meddling with our affairs. Clubs should be sponsored by dues from dedicated members.
good shiT so far m@n. im gonna look into the constitution dis weekend.
first step is drafting a proposition defunding da ASUC of its student fees. get rdy to be smashT
"-smashT"
I don't know what you're smoking, "Manny" is a tool. All he's concerned with doing is keeping the status quo without messing things up any worse. He's not ging to make an impact on anything, other than a possible negative impact. I'm sorry but one of the major problems with the ASUC is that the two major parties promote the biggest tools for political gain. Manuel Buenrostro is no different.
Manny might be a powerless figurehead, but he really does have the best interests of the students in mind. This of course is completely irrelevant. It doesn't matter if he wanted to commit genocide on campus, the party dictates everythign he does. This is precisely WHY we need to abolish the ASUC. The ASUC and stupid parties like Student Action and CalSERVE prohibit individuals from being effective.
Does Bret Manley or whoever is in charge of Student Action (the majority party) really speak for 22,000 undergraduates? Whoever is in control is calling all of the shots and it's hurting us badly. The ASUC will never be an efficient body and will always be riddled with corruption. By abolishing the ASUC we're doing 100x times more good for the students than they get with this embarrassing organization.
As far as I know, Manny's staff does not include anyone from the Student Action Party. His Chief of Staff is very nonpartisan and so are the rest.
Maybe you should take a look at who is running what before you make predictions.
Manny's staff works UNDER him which would probably insinuate that he controls their actions. I'm not interested in who works under him. I'm interested in who works above him. It's like saying that Bush has no one over his head telling him what to do. Yeah right.
Hi guys, I bring a message from the distant future.
Turns out old Manny accomplished something after all! He got the city's only arcade replaced by its eighth ice cream shop, fifth ice cream shop within a block of the campus, and second location of that particular chain within the same area.
So I just wanna say thanks, Manny. Thanks for representing me. Thanks for representing the other 600 students who petitioned against the closure of the BEARcade. Thanks for making Berkeley a diverse environment for a diverse student body. Really, thank you.
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