The Judicial Board held its first round of hearings last week to further investigate the SG executive board timesheet controversy. In eight hours of testimony by the executives, it was revealed that SG President Ashley Mushnick backdated about five of her timesheets. Anonymous SG members claim that Mushnick encouraged other cabinet members to also backdate their timesheets.
The Judicial Board will make its final recommendations in the next few weeks. Mushnick and other members of the cabinet could be impeached by the Undergraduate Senate. If Student Activities finds convincing evidence of wrongdoing, they could be sent to JAMS.
There are so many things wrong with this situation, which is slowly but surely beginning to resemble the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal made into a sitcom. Obviously, Mushnick should not have lied. She is arguably the most visible member of the student body. At a time when AU is working to shake its reputation for administrative secrecy, any accusations of lying anywhere in the administration of the school must be taken absolutely seriously.
Having said that, it's time to stop focusing on the small things. Not only do average AU students not know about the whole affair, but if they do, they just don't care.
SG members need to remember that they are just college kids with a tendency to be too insulated who sometimes take themselves too seriously. Furthermore, they are students learning about and trying their hand at governance, not actual professional politicians. A margin of error should exist.
This is such an important year for student government. In reality, timesheets or no timesheets, few students would refute the actual good work that has been done thus far by the executives and the cabinet. KPU and SUB are both on a roll, not something that can be said of past years. Free food and engaging events have already made the fall semester a stellar start to the year. Aside from that, we cannot afford a major leadership shake-up in the middle of the year, which is presumably what would happen in the event any of the SG executives or cabinet members left office.
Much like what happens with the real government, the good work that is being accomplished is overshadowed by the ridiculousness of essentially unimportant scandals. No one is perfect, and the SG should learn from this by updating its bylaws and having clearer expectations of incoming executives. It's a shame important work is being held up by the unimportant distractions caused by the timesheets.
