After months of deliberation and several deferred votes, the Associated Students Inc. (ASI) senate voted 11-1-3 to not join the California State Student Association (CSSA) this year, and to reconsider joining the organization at the end of the Fall 2009 semester.

CSSA is an organization that represents all of the CSU system̢۪s 23 campuses and lobbies on behalf of more than 400,000 students who attend these universities.

“We are cautious in our support of this organization with the knowledge that this will be the third time in recent history that ASI has made the decision to rejoin CSSA after having left due to its ineffectiveness,â€Â said an ad hoc committee in its official recommendation to the ASI senate.

That committee was created after the vote was postponed at a Feb. 18 meeting and was comprised of three senators — Craig Parks, Jamie Ruddy and Eduardo Rodriguez — and Executive Vice President of Finance Lauren Johnson.

The committee made its recommendation to the ASI senate at a senate meeting held on March 4, and that recommendation was upheld with only one dissenting vote and three abstentions.

“The committee was established, met and was assigned different people to talk to from CSSA, people who have or have had involvement in the CSSA leadership,â€Â said Johnson who, as an executive, was unable to vote.

Both Johnson and the official recommendation of the committee cited internal reorganization of the association as one of the primary concerns.

“This is the first time CSSA is restructuring like this, and the intent is that it will be more efficient. But we don’t want to throw money into it before they can prove that to us,â€Â Johnson said.

“As one senator mentioned, you don’t buy a new car without test-driving it.â€Â

The official recommendation of the committee echoes this sentiment, and harkens back to ASI̢۪s tempestuous relationship with CSSA.

Between 2001 and 2004, Fresno State̢۪s ASI was a due-paying member of CSSA, and attended meetings. In the 2004-05 school year, however, ASI stopped paying dues to the organization, but continued to attend meetings.

ASI rejoined the association between 2006 and 2008, but decided to pull out again for the 2008-09 school year, and have not attended meetings.

“I think all the executives were supportive of the subcommittee’s recommendation, but wanted to create a significant discussion before taking the vote,â€Â Johnson said.

Parks, another member of the committee and the senator for Clubs and Organizations, was also uncertain whether the organization̢۪s restructuring would be successful.

Parks described some of the changes to the organization, which includes revising the voting system. In the past, larger campuses, like California State University, Long Beach, received three votes, while smaller campuses, like the California Maritime Academy, would receive one vote.

Under the old system, Fresno State would have received two votes.

“We didn’t really want to go in on a faith-based decision,â€Â Parks said.

For Parks, though, the biggest factor in his decision was talking to former ASI members who had been involved with CSSA.

Executive Vice President Jessica Sweeten also referred back to problems she has seen when ASI has been involved with the organization.

“I think if we do see the CSSA’s plans prosper, then we do have the option of getting back in. But being in ASI for some time now, I’ve seen some of the problems they’ve had in the past,â€Â Sweeten said.

Sweeten was a member of the senate that chose last year to pull the university out of CSSA, and herself voted for removal. She cited a lack of change as one of the primary reasons she voted against rejoining the organization last year.

Sweeten was also unable to vote this time around, given her position as an executive, but was dubious about the effectiveness of CSSA.

“I do believe in what the organization set out to do, but I haven’t seen that from them yet, so I am wary,â€Â Sweeten said.

“It’s a lot of money to spend,â€Â she added.

President Graham Wahlberg was not as satisfied with the outcome, however.

“If that’s their decision, I’m going to go along with that,â€Â said Wahlberg, “but I really wish it would have gone the other way. I wish the senate would have looked at the current CSSA board and the strength of the organization.“

Wahlberg, who had been a strong and vocal advocate for rejoining CSSA, did not feel the senate gave the decision enough consideration. “I know that if the senate would have thought about it a little bit more, it would have been a lot closer of a vote,â€Â Wahlberg said.

And while the committee expressed its qualms about CSSA̢۪s restructuring, Wahlberg does not share those concerns.

“The internal restructuring of CSSA makes it stronger than it’s ever been before. Part of the reasons marginalized campuses are rejoining is because they’ve made it stronger,â€Â he said.

Wahlberg also worried that the senate decided to table the decision so it didn’t have to deal with it this year, and would leave the decision to next year’s ASI representatives, a mindset that he called “cowardlyâ€Â and “irresponsible.â€Â

“I’d be really interested in the students’ perspective and whether they feel like ASI has been lobbying on their behalf,â€Â Wahlberg said.

“I’m sad that our students aren’t going to get representation on the level that they should.â€Â