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Last Updated: Oct 16th, 2008 - 13:33:17 |
The lackluster leaders of the Student Government Assembly have proven yet again they are incapable of engaging in a provocative relationship with the student body. This is evident by looking at this year’s ballot.
Of the 15 potential senate seats, there are only seven candidates running. For the seat of vice president, there is only one. There are only two candidates for the SACAB representatives, of which there are only two elected seats. Only in the race for the presidency is there a competition, with two candidates vying for one spot.
The complacent nature of the members of the SGA, who constantly complain about student engagement and involvement but do nothing to remedy the situation, is ludicrous. A majority of Metro’s student population know nothing about the candidates, nothing about this election, much less are even aware of the student government’s existence. It causes one to wonder why they even exist?
Student government acts as a voice for the students, but without that voice, how can they effectively represent the student body? In a democratic society, a governing body speaks for the people. Where the SGA likes to think they find their mandate in democracy, with a voter turnout of around 4 percent, this clearly isn’t the case.
While the members of the government might fault low turnout with students being apathetic, they have only themselves to blame.
Instead of making themselves visible at the flagpole, interacting with the student community, they hole up in their office or conference room, deliberating for hours on what they can do to engage students.
Take this current election for example: where are the candidates hiding? Little colorful photocopies taped to the doors, cute posters and banners hung on every wall and even chalk drawings on the sidewalk hardly constitute as campaigning and connecting with the student body at large. It’s only the tip of the iceberg.
For those students that do find themselves compelled to vote, they are presented a website with incomplete ballots, missing photos, transparent or non-existent bios and a complete lack of any discussion regarding issues facing students, making it impossible for a student to make even a superficial decision on who best to represent them.
However, a website isn’t required to inform anyone that the SGA is well aware of a growing disinterest among students regarding the organization’s actions, or lack thereof.
Members of the SGA are well aware of the indifference, yet, they do nothing about it because all they want is to pad their résumés and get paid.
They rest on their laurels and put forth as minimal an effort as is required, only serving to reinforce the students’ belief of the assembly’s insignificance, when they should be serving the student body they claim to represent.
What Metro needs is a student government that recognizes student apathy on a commuter campus and stops at nothing to change that attitude.
To do this would require more than a minimal effort, but it’s an effort members of the government must put forth for the betterment of the campus.
Examples of accomplishing this task, which is their duty, would include a more visible presence on campus — getting out, shaking hands, talking with students and utilizing the wide variety of outlets this campus affords them. The SGA should make a more concerted effort to inform students of the good, if perhaps rare, things it does for students, such as the food bank and textbook campaign. Doing so would illustrate to the students that the office on the third floor of the Tivoli just isn’t in desperate need of a remodel but filled with people who want to make a difference for their constituents.
As it stands, the SGA is a joke and this election is a joke; until they begin to engage the students, it won’t be any wonder why the students care little to engage them.
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