Elections focus on regent issue

While some Michigan Student Assembly candidates are supporting the Yes! Yes! Yes! campaign of the Student Regent Task Force, other candidates are responding with No! No! No!

MSA currently is seeking voter approval of a ballot proposal to raise student fees by $4-5. MSA would use the money to pay a company to gather signatures in support of placing a question on a statewide ballot asking Michigan voters to authorize the installation of a voting student representative on the University Board of Regents.

Elizabeth Keslacy, an LSA sophomore running for MSA president with the New Frontier Party, said MSA's foray into state politics will squander the assembly's precious time and resources.

"MSA should spend more time making the campus a better environment for students rather than wasting time on an issue that's just a dead end," Keslacy said. "I don't think voters are going to vote for it. To spend $400,000 to get it on the ballot is just a waste of money."

Other candidates said student presence on the board would ensure that student concerns are addressed.

"By not having a student regent, we're leaving the administration and the regents unchecked," said Ferris Hussein, an LSA sophomore and independent candidate running for MSA president. "These regents are the CEOs of corporations and other officials. Who are they to run our school?"

Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek) said she would not accede to students' demands for a voting student regent.

"I need to know how the students propose to fit a student on the Board of Regents," McFee said. "I need to know what their authority would be. I would be against having a student (regent) with full power unless the student was elected to the board."

Attempts to pass a bill in the state Legislature to amend the state constitution to allow for student representation on the board will probably fail, said Trent Thompson, an LSA junior running for MSA president on the Students' Party ticket. The state ballot proposal is the only option remaining, Thompson said.

"We have tried the legislative process," Thompson said. "This is the only way we can get a student regent. I think it's one of the most important things MSA will ever do."

Other candidates said the decision to raise student fees ultimately resides in the hands of voters today and tomorrow.

"The students need to decide whether they feel the fee increase is something that will benefit their education," said Albert Garcia, an LSA sophomore running as an independent candidate for MSA vice president. "Students should only vote yes or no if they truly understand the importance of having a regent."

Student Regent Task Force leaders, who are pushing the fee increase, maintain that the University Board of Regents affects every aspect of students' educations.

"The University is where we go to school," said LSA sophomore Bram Elias, an MSA representative. "Our lives, in no small part, are governed by the regents. Every other Big Ten school gives students the chance to govern their lives and the University."

03-18-98