 This year, a group of active students has come together with a vision to rejuvenate the WSA. Our commitment to change is supported by principled concerns for the vision and values of the university and its student body. We support action on issues of student group relations, Middletown relations, administrative accountability and WSA focus. The WSA requires a structured vision in order to advance as an organization and serve as a resource for the community. While WSA boasts a balanced budget, significant efforts on the part of Educational Policy and Faculty/Student Affairs Committee and a number of committed representatives, the organization is largely stagnant and unresponsive. This can and will change provided that representatives commit to some long-range goals and seek to connect with the community-at-large. The WSA needs to be a strong advocate of student concerns on campus. Accountability from our administration, particularly in returning students to committees which decide policies affecting students, strengthening student groups and helping them work together, supporting the campaigns of student groups that deal with socially responsible university and investment, bringing Wesleyan into the Middletown community, and reopening discussion on the much-hated meal plan must be the focus of the WSA, if it is to serve as a voice and vision for the college body.Vice-President- David Perlman ’01 Junior Class representatives: Billy Clareman, Roger Smith Sophomore class representatives: Sandy Aylesworth, Adam Hurter, Cara Smith The problem of collective action in student government is turnover and the lack of internal unity. Unlike a typical student group, the entirety of WSA is an elected body brought together with separate constituencies, loyalties and agendas. The committee system distributes power under the notion that if one group is ineffective the others can still be productive. The common interest is often difficult to identify and the committees operate on an independent basis and are neither accountable to one another nor necessarily working towards the same goals. As a result, it is difficult for the WSA to move as a whole and it operates as a reactive institution. Perhaps the most debilitating problem is that the WSA operates under a strange blend of what Weber describes as government by bureaucracy and government of charisma. While the President’s duties are largely undefined, it is clearly up to him/her to guide the organization with vision and direction. The President must serve as a conduit between WSA and student groups, administration and Trustees and encourage a unified vision for the individual committees. Charisma and bureaucracy must be blended such that once a long-term plan is implemented the organization can move as a whole over time but that in a given year the President need not be an outstanding leader.
Andrew J Calica,WSA CoordinatorStudent leaders freely admit that a many student groups at Wesleyan are plagued by apathy, lack of commitment, an indifferent or even hostile administration, lack of continuity from year to year, early burnout for group leaders, lack of support from faculty, and poor communication with other groups on campus.
The WSA must encourage communication and alliances among groups, and must simplify basic processes like booking rooms, renting equipment, and obtaining funds. Something which would help greatly is allotting space for a student union. Unlike the current cramped WSA building, it will be a permanent space for all student groups to have meetings, do work, and most importantly, become part of a community of concerned students. In the past, if the WSA had felt a need for this center, it would have tried to create it alone, without the support of the students on whose behalf it was to be created, and without cooperating with others working on the same issue — in this case the Community Learning Network, WESUNITY, numerous student groups, and Student Services. As the group leaders who encouraged us to run for office can attest to, those days are over.Roger Smith, Adam Hurter, Cara Smith, Sandy Aylesworth, Billy Clareman The university does little to foster a positive relationship with Middletown and several university policies inhibit the student body from investing in and interacting with the city in a meaningful way. Student life at Wesleyan cannot be improved without improving relations with Middletown. Students complain that there is nothing to do in the town, that there is no where to go, and that they have no reason to leave campus.
After we investigated the situation and talked with numerous Middletown residents and business owners, it became clear that today’s situation is the result of failed policies. Middletown used to have a thriving movie theater. The heavily subsidized film series, and an economic downturn forced the closure of two first-run movie theaters. We need to take care to keep this from happening a third time.
The current meal plan policy also needs to be reevaluated. Students are not happy with eating at Mocon and Itza, and buying from the unreasonably priced Weshop for a full four years. In his office hours, President Bennet expressed a willingness to reduce the buy-in for upperclassman if it is shown to be economically feasible. We need to remove the financial disincentives from eating at Middletown’s restaurants and from interacting with the town. Every year, we spend approximately $6 million dollars on campus dining, money that could be going to local businesses and that would make Wesleyan part of the Middletown community. Furthermore, within the last few years, we’ve had an ATM installed on campus, and turned WESHOP into a video store, as if in an attempt to eliminate any need to leave campus. If we want Middletown to be a student-friendly town we have an obligation to help our community.Billy Clareman and Roger Smith In order for such long term goals as the construction of a student union, and becoming a part of the Middletown community to be realized, the WSA finance committee , FiFac, must assert its accordance with our vision for the Wesleyan Community. With regard to redefining our relationship with Middletown, it may be necessary for the University to extend itself monetarily (i.e. providing tuition benefits for food service workers here on campus, or subsidizing losses from the meal plan until a new campus center can be built). Finally, it is imperative that the University preserve its practice of need blind admission and continue create policies that reflect the importance of economic diversity.Sandy Aylesworth The WSA needs a directional revolution. The structure and procedures are satisfactory; the WSA needs a vision to serve as the catalyst for change. The WSA needs a President and a group of representatives committed to change and action. This group must work in-tandem with the other representatives to address “micro-goals”. These include: making WSA user friendly through an accessible Web Page and On-Line voting; working with existing resources such as CLN, WESUNITY, and WesLead to bring student groups together and facilitate scheduling, collective action, and consciousness-raising; and making real connections between WSA and groups through COCO liaisons and directly with the President, who should meet with as many student groups as possible and should regularly hold discussions with other leaders. These micro-goals are necessary to facilitate the realization of “macro-goals” including: the development of a long range plan that stakes out a position for WSA in the larger community and creates a relationship between student groups that is lasting and mutually beneficial. The WSA should reflect on the direction of the University under the Strategy for Wesleyan and determine where student interests need to be advocated for and how best to go about attaining them. The long-range plan should be the product of discussion amongst appropriate communities and interests and then recorded in written form. The WSA must do a better job of responding to its constituency by developing relationships with athletes, international students, students of color, the Argus, fraternities and other active, organized groups in order to further common goals. The WSA should change its image by doing something concrete, not merely correcting superficial problems. The only way to make WSA effective is to outline a direction and then move decisively toward it.Andrew Calica 
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