By Adam Lederer
BI Columnist
It’s time to put a stop to all “vacation sneaks.”
The vacation sneak is a tool often used by authorities to pass legislation or change the rules while the affected constituencies are not in town.
In other words, the Laramie City Council could pass the nudity ordinance in late December or early January while students are conveniently out of town on vacation.
This is not the only time the vacation sneak has been used to change the rules around this town; but is the most current possible exercise of this tool.
The last major use of this tool came during the summer when College of Business Dean Forester decided to stop students from cutting through the business parking lot by building a fence.
If he had proposed the fence during the school year, there would have been such an uproar that any physical plant employee approaching the area with a shovel would have been shoved away by a large body of angry students.
Summer has traditionally been the time to put new and improved stupid policies in place.
It’s even happened to faculty members on occasion. They go out of town for the summer to do research and relax, only to return and discover that they too have been victims of the surprise vacation sneak.
However, the winter vacation is not used nearly as often, although it appears to be looming here in Laramie.
When city council sits down at its next meeting on Tuesday, it will decide the date for the public hearing over the nudity ordinance.
If the council picks a date after the first of January, beware, a vacation sneak may be occurring. The council members who vote for that date are only trying to ignore the students.
If it chooses a date before Thanksgiving, the council will be leaving the process open for many who would otherwise be excluded.
Additionally, ASUW needs to get involved in stopping vacation sneaks.
ASUW has not yet said a word about the nudity ordinance. The senate sits around its table on Tuesday nights deciding whether or not the Campus Toe Fungus club should get funding to attend a conference in Hawai’i.
What would be really inspiring is if ASUW got off its rocker and canceled one of its pointless meetings and went down to meet Laramie’s City Council.
In this town, the city council plays a far larger role in affecting the lives of students than ASUW could ever hope to play.
Additionally, ASUW should appoint an effective speaker to represent ASUW members’ opinions at Laramie City Council each meeting, whether school is in session or not. That would be an effective use of some student dollars.
It should be noted, vacation sneaks will always occur, even with the most effective student voices possible.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to minimize the effects.
Adam Lederer is a graduate student in political science minoring in environment and natural resources. He earned his bachelor’s from UW in 1996.