So I was wrong, ASUAF does care, at least judging by their reaction to last week's editorial they do. What I love about them is that they actually responded, which is more than I can say for anyone else on the now infamous shit list.

Allow me to apologize, my politico buddies, for tearing into you like that. I was angry, and, like a dissatisfied brat on Christmas morn, I had not gotten what I wanted. To be clear, what I wanted were photos and biographies of the Senate candidates so we could publish them for all our readers to see and pore over, hopefully accomplishing our shared goal of drawing in more students to vote in the election. The resulting hostility can be blamed on a miscommunication between Vice President Dani Carlson, whom I still consider to be a friend, and myself. The list wasn't meant as an attack, but I did mean what I wrote.

Besides the free coffee and tea service and last year's short-lived glass recycling program, I have yet to see a single program come out of ASUAF that has benefited me personally. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the student government does a lot more than any of us realize, but I think the perception held by many students, that the student government's actions do not matter, is what results in a lack of a candidates and therefore a low voter turnout.

ASUAF needs to do something to earn students' respect; it's not the other way around.

It's ironic, but a shit list is exactly what the student government needs. Controversy is what gets attention, and sometimes you have to take risks, whether you're right or wrong, to make an impact and get some feedback. I learned that last week, and whether the feedback was positive or negative, at least we knew people were paying attention.

And that's another point I'd like to make: There are people who agreed with the shit list. It would be easy to write it off as a tasteless, inappropriate trashing of the student government, the chancellor and the museum director, but I'm not the only one who felt that way. There were plenty of people who appreciated last week's editorial and told me so, and it makes me wonder, without using the word "shit," would those criticisms have been any easier to swallow? I have a feeling ASUAF would still be talking about firing me or (and I'm not making this up) cutting the Sun Star's funding to $1 if the expletives had not been included in the column.

Anyway, I really do appreciate ASUAF for getting so riled up about it, and just seeing Senate Chair Pat Frymark get all huffy made the whole thing worthwhile. At least we know they care.