OUR VIEWS: Consensus Opinion

Article Tools

Print View

Get RSS

SGA responsibilities

This week marks the end of the Student Government Association elections, heralding the beginning of a new SGA administration. Unfortunately, the election process itself highlights the deficiencies of SGA this year. While events such as SGA Week have increased the visibility of this crucial organization on campus, the voting record for the Presidential and Executive Vice Presidential elections speaks of a general campus apathy towards the very body chosen to represent them. Less than three thousand students voted in the Undergraduate Presidential and Vice Presidential races, even less than last year’s low turnout of four thousand.

Next year’s administration must make it their charge to change the culture of SGA so that it is more open and connected with the rest of campus.

Despite the responsibility and trust held by members of the Undergraduate House and the Graduate Senate, both legislative bodies faced difficulties this year, including repeatedly losing quorum. Both the Undergraduate House of Representatives and the Graduate Student Senate maintained an environment that was difficult for student organizations to negotiate, enforcing fund allocation policies that are complex and not easily found on the SGA website, while still managing to allocate so many funds that the summer emergency reserves could potentially be left with less than one-hundred thousand dollars.

If representatives and campus groups continue with the trends of apathy and confusion over policies that were shown this year, then even the many positive actions taken by SGA on the part of students will be underappreciated.

SGA must make it a priority to regain relevance on campus, not just as a liaison between the students and administration, but also as an active resource for student organizations and individuals.

Institute Interim

Last week Tech Provost Gary Schuster was announced Interim Institute President. Schuster will act as President effective July 1, and will serve until the permanent replacement for Dr. Clough is announced. The Board of Regents is commended for selecting an interim so quickly from within the Institute. While Schuster has worked for the Institute in various capacities since 1994, he is not as well known as Clough was and should therefore use the next few weeks to become more familiar to students on campus. We at the Technique congratulate Dr. Schuster on this honor, and look forward to working with him.