Student regent effort still faces challenges

Last month, 60 percent of students voting in the Michigan Student Assembly winter elections approved a fee increase designated to fund a campaign aimed at establishing a student seat on the University Board of Regents. Now MSA leaders are waiting for the day in June when the regents will decide the fate of the fee increase.

"The regents run the University, and the students certainly deserve a seat at the table to decide how their own lives are going to be run," said Student Regent Task Force Co-Chair Bram Elias, an LSA sophomore.

The $4 increase in MSA fees would be used to hire a firm to gather the 310,000 signatures necessary to add a question to a statewide ballot asking voters to voice their support for the installation of a student regent.

MSA leaders are currently considering various firms for the signature gathering campaign. Among the candidates is Advantage Consulting, which charges the industry norm of $1 per signature.

The signature-gathering firms may not be a wise choice, warned Blois Olson, press secretary for Doug Ross for Governor. Olson said Advantage Consulting was fired by Ross' campaign because it failed to gather any signatures.

"They were contracted by us but did not perform up to the agreements, and so, were not retained," Olson said. "They were ineffective and inefficient. They just didn't deliver on their promises."

Olson said the student government should organize its own signature-gathering campaign because the industry itself could not match the activism of students.

"Students as citizens are the most activist and easiest to organize," Olson said. "The student government should be able to put together a signature drive."

Before MSA can allocate the money to their political campaign, they must convince the regents to approve the fee increase - a move many insiders say is unlikely because the board does not want to dilute its power.

"I think it's apparent that (the regents) don't want a student regent," said LSA Rep. Brian Reich, a first-year student. "It's highly unlikely that they will approve the funding increase, which is disappointing because I believe that they should leave it up to the voters of the state."

Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor) said he is against the idea of a student regent because once such a position is created, other constituencies such as faculty and staff will want representation on the board.

"In general, I've felt that a student regent is not a very good idea," Power said. "If you begin regental representation by constituency, there's no end to the number of positions created. I feel that regents should represent the whole state."

A complaint filed by students of the University's Law School also threatens to undermine the push for a student regent.

The letter of complaint, which has been received by Michigan's Secretary of State Candice Miller and has yet to be reviewed, alleges that MSA violated the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, which prohibits public funds from being used for political campaigns.

"We will review the complaint on its face," said Elizabeth Boyd, communications director for Miller. "We can either dismiss the complaint without prejudice if it is apparent that it was without grounds, or we can seek additional information that can help us determine whether a violation has occurred."

04-15-98