Though few can put faces to the A.S. Council names, many
undergraduates are involved in at least one on-campus club. While candidates
prepare for their campaigns, and for unopposed candidates their inevitable
election into office, they continue to ignore what is perhaps their greatest
resource: student organizations.

There is no better way for the council to connect with
students than through the groups to which they belong. It’s in these
organizations that incoming freshmen find friendly faces and learn to voice
their concerns with the campus. However, if nobody with the power to propagate
change is listening, what’s the incentive? A better relationship with the
personable organizations on the council’s part would strengthen student
enthusiasm for programming events, and in turn boost a significantly weak
school spirit.

Different organizations have equally varying relationships
with the council; it appears this great divide is overarching. As of now, the
only way for organizations to have a voice is by getting one of their members
elected to the council.

But this inside favoritism serves few students.
Councilmembers should explore other ways to tap into the power of the campus’
clubs. What’s necessary is an institutionalized connection, where student
government can effectively communicate with all student organizations, and vice
versa. The council’s focus is often behind the scenes and therefore invisible
to most students, but in order to best serve its constituency the council
should create an efficient line of communication with student club leaders that
provides accurate information in a timely manner. This will open doors for more
collaborative projects.

The current council has made notable strides to better its
relationships with student organizations by reaching out to students with A.S.
visibility weeks and streamlining bureaucratic procedures by making them
available online. With this groundwork in place, the incoming council is poised
to solidify the already germinating relationship.

The A.S. Council is a fiscal crutch for organizations to
lean on — and this will surely be another issue for the council in the coming
year — but there are so many ways this connection could be improved.

The council must use next year to explore other means of
support for these organizations, outside of the wallet. For example, both
bodies could benefit from improved publicity, which could lead to a generally
stronger school spirit and a better campus climate.

The current council is making progress in getting people
from many different organizations involved so they can bring varied
perspectives to the table. This progress is exciting, but it ensures nothing
for clubs currently uninvolved with student government.

It is these campus clubs that constantly engage and interact
with students. All the council needs to do is build upon this friendship, and
voila — student life becomes exponentially better connected to the campus.

Idealistic as it is, hand in hand, the A.S. Council and
student orgs could revive a UCSD school spirit that has become one of the most
pressing concerns of dissatisfied students.