It is hard to remember the last time Student Government did something productive.
SG has been attempting to change to the AU Student Association since the summer. In a Dec. 5 staff editorial, The Eagle mentioned how useless the debate within SG had become and how the real issues concerning student tuition dollars were being ignored. Now, more than a month later, SG hasn’t made any progress. The only difference is that members of SG still believes their drama matters while the rest of the student body has forgotten about it.
The Board of Elections has been the main culprit on dragging out the new referendum. It filed allegations against SG Comptroller Joe Ste.Marie last week for seeking endorsement from the AU College Democrats before the campaign officially began. The BOE dismissed all charges against Ste.Marie after some debate on Jan. 24.
Along with this, two BOE members resigned earlier this week. Thanks to this melodramatic unraveling of events, the vote on the referendum has been postponed again and the worthless SG debate will continue.
This is a prime example of SG bureaucracy that consistently halts any progress. Nothing can get done when every attempt to accomplish something is blocked by another regulation.
It is ironic where this debate has gone; An act that aimed to create less politics and more student advocacy, according to former SG President Sarah McBride, has done the opposite.
What AU students care about is our representation on the Board of Trustees, not whether there is a senate in the years to come.
We care about having a say on where our tuition dollars go, not about violations of campaign management.
We care about how the 72 percent of Student Activities funds allotted to SG are being spent. We do not care about its petty drama.
The worst part is that the same nonsense happens year after year. SG does not seem to learn from its mistakes and students are losing faith in the organization (if they haven’t already). This is the one organization on campus that gives students a voice, and it is spending its time arguing about its structure instead of focusing on the real issues. How can we trust it anymore?
SG is failing at its most basic task: to give the student body a voice. The sooner SG understands that all students want is fair representation, the sooner it will move past these arguments and begin to create constructive discussion with the University and Board of Trustees.
SG, please move past the debate and do your job, because this is just a waste of our time and money. .? E
edpage@theeagleonline.com
