Recently the Eagle printed an editorial giving the Student Confederation advice. I feel it is my place to offer some advice of my own, because until Sunday, I was the longest serving member of that body. In my time at American University, I have served two legislative posts and three judicial. I won't be around for next year, but it will be one of the most eventful in SC history, so I feel I should try to pass the benefits of my experience down to those who will.
First, I should probably start with someone who isn't actually a part of the SC. Evan Tucker has written articles about the SC in the past on BenLadner.com. I get the idea that he won't be doing this in the future, but for anyone interested in following in his footsteps as an SC commentator, I have some advice. First, don't do it on BenLadner.com. The site has slandered SC members enough in the past that nobody takes it seriously anymore, and it simply hasn't changed enough to destroy this image. It's still a Web site founded by someone frustrated by his impeachment as Speaker Pro Tempore of the General Assembly and his subsequent attempts to ruin the good names of his SC enemies in the ill-fated publication Politica. Second, anyone wishing to show the SC how silly it is should focus on people that are actually in it. Tucker's problem was always that he focused on people who were gone. Nobody wants to read that, and if they do, there's not much they can do about it. Rants about Haley Stevens aren't going to help anything. Helping the SC probably isn't what Evan meant to do with his column, but maybe it should have been.
Next is SC President Polson Kanneth. The Eagle was right about everything that they said in their advice to him. But I would add a couple things. First, The Eagle rightly praises the fact that Polson was elected. The flip side of this is that Polson needs to not let the mandate he has received get to his head. He got a whole lot of votes, and all of his appointments have been confirmed by large margins. However, he will have his critics, and quite often they will have a point. He needs to listen to what people are saying and not be content with the fact that he ran a good campaign. Now he needs to run a good Student Confederation. Second, he needs to take a cue from some of his predecessors. For instance, Ken Biberaj never turned anyone away flat from an appointment. Just because someone isn't right for a particular position doesn't mean they don't have a place in the SC. There's always something else they can be appointed to; there is no reason to turn away someone that wants to help. Another good example for Polson to follow would be Erin Taylor. Many people have said many things about her, but she's one of my favorite SCers of all time for the following reason: she was genuinely concerned with people's problems. This is an exceptionally rare and valuable trait in the SC, and Polson would do well to emulate it. Third, Polson needs to be the students' watch dog with the university administration. They will try to do things to us that we don't like, and they will use tricks like announcing them over summer break when nobody's here to fight them. Polson needs to be here to fight them, and he needs to fight ferociously.
My advice for Vice President Jason Trombley is simple. First, stay. Second, he should try to tap into the political activism of this campus. Many GA members and prospective GA members have expressed a desire to have the SC organize debates between campus political groups during the upcoming election cycle. This could be a good cheap way for Jason to bring the campus and its ideas together, but he needs to take the initiative to do it. Also, Jason needs to work with the GA to put KPU and SUB under his office. Doing so would not affect their effectiveness in any way, and would finally define the offices of the President and Vice President.
To Comptroller Moamar Tidjani-Dourodjaye I would advise that the SC's money should be watched over carefully. This past year we had some problems with this. One way of making sure that it doesn't happen again would be to establish what the SC's relationship with the AUCC is. Moammar has already looked into what the governing documents and Student Activities say about this, but he needs to go a step further. Though the SC has no control over the AUCC, that does not mean the SC should not have someone working with the AUCC to make sure that both bodies know what the other is up to, so the SC knows when it does or does not need to empty restricted to give a gift to the AUCC.
Secretary Jamie Rhea would do well to imitate Karen Fischer. However, she also needs to do a couple more things. She needs to get the SC archives in order. Most things proposed in the SC have been proposed before. Well-kept archives can cut down on that and facilitate progress. Also, Jamie needs to participate in the ongoing reform of the SC Bylaws. She is the executive in charge of keeping the SC offices in order, and that means figuratively as well as literally. She needs to be the voice representing the executive branch in the reforms the GA is about to make.
As for the judicial branch, I would propose limiting its size. A 9 member CPRB is too large and susceptible to court packing. It should be cut down to 5 members. These members should all be appointed by the President. This will improve the balance of legislative/executive power on the board because the GA would retain its advice and consent power over all the appointments. Additionally, the chair should serve a two year term, not a three year term. I have heard too many SC presidents remark that they would like to find a freshman to fill the seat. This seat should be filled by the most experienced people in the SC, not the least.
Lastly, I have some advice for the body I spent so much time with, the General Assembly. First things first, the GA shouldn't ever listen to anything the editors of the Eagle say about it. Case in point: their advice that it cut down on the size of the GA. The moment all GA races are contested, it will be turning away half of the people with ideas about how to make the SC better serve the students. That will be the moment the Eagle, if it is doing its job, will jump on the GA for not being inclusive enough. The Eagle will always say bad things about the GA. The SC just needs to understand that the Eagle will never understand much about the SC. One good example the Eagle's competence in reporting on the SC was their coverage of the constitutional amendments on the ballot in March. After the infamous Will Mount debacle in November, there was an uproar over how atrocious the impeachment process was. In response, an amendment was written to change it. The article of the constitution that was changed was entitled "Removal From Office." The Eagle told voters that the purpose of the amendment was to allow the President to appoint a Vice President's replacement from outside the GA. The amendment did in fact do this, but that coverage focused on one line out of the entire document, and ignored the intent and most of the content of the amendment. This is the type of thing the Eagle will always do. The GA should leave student government to the SC, and not let the Eagle influence it.
