If first-year students must face the trials and yes, sometimes ridicule, of being freshmen, then they should at least be able to band together as a group.

That’s why UW-Madison student government, Associated Students of Madison (ASM), is considering a proposal to broaden the definition of who is a “freshman.”

Under the ASM bylaws, only students who meet the strict university definition of freshmen — someone with under 24 credits — can vote for the five “freshman” seats on the student council.

But there are hundreds of first-year students who are technically sophomores. In fall 2008, there were 694 first-year students who had enough credits from Advanced Placement or other college courses to be considered sophomores or juniors, according to the registrar. Those students should also get a chance to vote for the "freshman" seats, said Erik Paulson, a graduate student and ASM representative.

“We want to change the bylaws to include a few more students,” he said.

There’s a special election each fall so that the freshman class can vote for their own representatives. Other students vote for student council positions, split up by school or college, in the spring.

Because of that, Paulson is also proposing that transfer students and/or new graduate students be allowed to vote in the fall so that they, too, get a chance to directly choose their representatives.

Read the On Campus blog: www.madison.com/wsj/blogs/oncampus