I?d like to congratulate Associated Students, Inc. representatives Luke Wood and Calvin Davis for further complicating the disaster that is the ASI board.

As if things aren?t bad enough already, Wood and Davis have drafted a five-page resolution that rivals the Magna Carta. The purpose of their resolution is to make ASI inclusive and make it more than a clique, by adding more non-voting representatives to the board. This is in spite of the fact that the board is one of the most diverse this campus has ever seen. Let?s face it; this campus isn?t exactly San Francisco State.

Just out of curiosity, I sent out an e-mail to the 12 filled positions on the board asking their ethnic backgrounds. I got back five responses.

It is already known that ASI President Artemio Pimentel is the son of migrant farm worker parents. Lisanne Nakayama, the director of Social Sciences and Inter-Disciplinary studies, is Japanese-American. The Director of Post-Baccalaureate Studies Mohamed Hamada is an International student from Egypt. Jennifer Estrada, the director of education, is the daughter of Puerto Rican and Mexican parents. Director of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Luke Wood is the offspring of white and black parents.The only response that I found puzzling was the e-mail I received from Executive Vice President Eric Guerra. He couldn?t tell me his ethnic background without first conferring with ASI Press Secretary Janus Norman. I guess Guerra is seriously confused.

Half of the groups represented in the legislation are Hyphenated Americans, but more importantly, why do we need additional non-voting positions on the board when hardly anyone attends the meetings now?

The meetings are already open to anyone who wishes to attend. The agenda is posted a week before the meeting and if anyone wants their voice represented, or takes umbrage with any of the proposed legislation, they can voice their concerns in the open forum section of the meeting.

This legislation is merely an attempt to clog the inner workings of ASI and disable it as a cohesive body. The resolution is lengthy and repetitive and will only serve to divert the attention of ASI from more important issues like Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes, student retention and voting in non-binding resolutions.But Wood and Davis don?t think that is enough. Their resolution asks to appoint non-voting representatives from a variety of groups on campus. They have limited their selections to 12 specific groups, but there are some notable exclusions.

For one, they fail to represent the handicapped students on campus. Shouldn?t they have the right to be represented on the board with these other groups? If anyone deserves a platform to voice their concerns, shouldn?t it be them? To my knowledge, there are no disabled students on the board.

What about representation for students over the age of 30 on campus? They make up 22 percent of the campus population, but the board does absolutely nothing for them. The board is more content to squabble over why they weren?t invited to the latest mixer at a fraternity or sorority house.

And more importantly, what about representation for the students that have dropped out? Their viewpoints would be very helpful in trying to figure out the retention problem. The only downside to this would be trying to get them to attend the meetings. But that?s not so different than the number of ASI appointments on University boards that remain vacant.

Why stop there? We could have representation for the groundskeepers who pick-up the trash of spoiled children and prune and cut the foliage of our fine campus. They probably have a better understanding of what happens on campus than any of the administrators or students who sit on the board.

I think Carl the Janitor from the Breakfast Club said it best: “You guys think I?m just some untouchable peasant? Serf? Peon? Huh? Maybe so, but following a broom around after s—heads like you for the last eight years; I?ve learned a couple of things. I look through your letters. I look through your lockers. I listen to your conversations; you don?t know that, but I do. I am the eyes and ears of this institution, my friends.”

Matt Wagar is a journalism major. He can be reached at [email protected].