ASG and RIC serve similar functions, but address different parts of student life
UA student governments keep students, UA running
James Baker
Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: News
The Associated Student Government and the Residents' Interhall Congress differ in a number of ways, from parking spaces to the programs the two student governments offer to students.
The ASG, which oversees the campus as a whole with senators assigned to college constituencies, is concerned with seeing the university run efficiently so the budget can be more effectively utilized, ASG President Carter Ford said.
The sentiment is shared by the members of the new Commission on Affordability and Cost Containment on the national scene and by Chancellor G. David Gearhart, who said in January a UA commission would be created to review spending practices and eliminate duplication of services.
Overseeing such a large constituency can seem daunting, but the new student poll of 4,000 students, what Ford called "an incredible amount," and more than 900 written responses give the ASG and faculty plenty to work with and fix. This large student participation rate has given them a clear picture of what students believe could be fixed or worked on campus. The most commented on issue is hardly a surprise: the issue of parking.
The ASG also allocates funding to Registered Student Organizations on campus, and educational, social and political programming for students like Fresh H.O.G.S., which gives freshmen an opportunity to learn about the UA government. Other ongoing programs include Safe Ride and the Razorback Readership Program, which allows students to read newspapers ranging from The Arkansas Democrat Gazette to The New York Times.
The RIC, on the other hand, is concerned with representing the 4,200 residents on campus. For students living on campus, the RIC is effectively the voice of residents, as exemplified by plans by the RIC to petition on the behalf of residents requesting more streetlights around Holcomb Hall and Futrall Hall.
Speaking for the dorm constituencies on campus "is an integral part of what RIC is supposed to do," said William Hogan, RIC president pro tempore. The RIC has 54 senate slots, with 38 on roll. Though Reid Hall is allotted six seats in the RIC legislature, the dorm has no senators.
The ASG, which oversees the campus as a whole with senators assigned to college constituencies, is concerned with seeing the university run efficiently so the budget can be more effectively utilized, ASG President Carter Ford said.
The sentiment is shared by the members of the new Commission on Affordability and Cost Containment on the national scene and by Chancellor G. David Gearhart, who said in January a UA commission would be created to review spending practices and eliminate duplication of services.
Overseeing such a large constituency can seem daunting, but the new student poll of 4,000 students, what Ford called "an incredible amount," and more than 900 written responses give the ASG and faculty plenty to work with and fix. This large student participation rate has given them a clear picture of what students believe could be fixed or worked on campus. The most commented on issue is hardly a surprise: the issue of parking.
The ASG also allocates funding to Registered Student Organizations on campus, and educational, social and political programming for students like Fresh H.O.G.S., which gives freshmen an opportunity to learn about the UA government. Other ongoing programs include Safe Ride and the Razorback Readership Program, which allows students to read newspapers ranging from The Arkansas Democrat Gazette to The New York Times.
The RIC, on the other hand, is concerned with representing the 4,200 residents on campus. For students living on campus, the RIC is effectively the voice of residents, as exemplified by plans by the RIC to petition on the behalf of residents requesting more streetlights around Holcomb Hall and Futrall Hall.
Speaking for the dorm constituencies on campus "is an integral part of what RIC is supposed to do," said William Hogan, RIC president pro tempore. The RIC has 54 senate slots, with 38 on roll. Though Reid Hall is allotted six seats in the RIC legislature, the dorm has no senators.
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