Soon, our Student Government Association will release its rewritten constitution for students to vote on. Maybe 20 students will read it—the 20 who convince themselves that the SGA matters and who dream to live life as “The West Wing.” Those same 20 will take on the task of persuading the disinterested remainder of the student body that this new governing document is good—which it is—and will improve how the SGA functions—which it will only from a checks and balances standpoint.
For this constitution to matter, competent senators and executive members must be elected. The new constitution cannot achieve this, and history has proven that the majority of elected officials aren’t worth the chair they sit in, a downfall with all democracies.
It’s quite difficult to create a buzz around an SGA initiative when only a handful of senators are not puppets directed to vote yea on most everything, never raise questions, and co-sponsor pointless resolutions and bills that they haven’t the slightest idea about.
If that overwhelming ineptitude doesn’t provoke our student body, then a dull document with little tangible promise will surely not. Political drama does not excite most of our student body, unless it involves something extravagantly stupid. Our campus simply isn’t all that politically active, and I am not criticizing that truth. The few that do care, myself sadly included, must realize this and focus on what the SGA’s role is on campus and what it can realistically accomplish.
The SGA’s brand is tarnished and symbolizes the historic divides of campus. It is accurately perceived as a highly political, bureaucratic and divisive group. Though a respectable president or group of senators may effectively lead one year, by the next they can be replaced by those who will only serve to set the SGA back.
The major tasks of the SGA include allocating funds to student organizations, hosting events and implementing occasional large initiatives. The most important of those three to the majority of students is the allocation of the SGA’s budget.
The new constitution lacks enough regulation of the Financial Affairs Committee, which is the body that decides the amount of money that student organizations receive. On the SGA website, the FAC funding guidelines explain funding precedents and answer most questions about the general process. However, the FAC fails in the transparency department. Its meetings and minutes are not public, and the committee’s votes and reasoning for its decisions have been historically kept secret. These should be accessible for all senators and every student to view on the obnoxiously flashy SGA website.
When the Wired cover proclaimed the death of the World Wide Web, the magazine wasn’t preparing its eulogy for the global computer network. The cover article delved into the rise in the usage of different Internet functions that do not utilize the web. As the 2010 article states, “Two decades after its birth, the World Wide Web is in decline, as simpler, sleeker services — think apps — are less about the searching and more about the getting.”
The SGA faces a similar challenge as student groups resemble apps. They can possess more fluidity, focus and passion than the SGA, and students find most of their answers and outlets in those organizations.
The SGA has proven its inhibitions as a unifying force over the long run, but that, of course, doesn’t mean it can’t help. It should facilitate the work of those aforementioned organizations through credible funding and devoting resources and effort into the nascent SOURCE, which still has much more potential.
We have reached the time for the young politicos to cease our bellyaching about low SGA voter turnout, our complaining about apathy, and our gossiping about the next presidential election. Instead of struggling to drag more students into the SGA fray, more must be done in supporting those outside of it. Because most students are sick and tired of listening about the supposed importance of the SGA, and, honestly, I am too.
The new constitution is acceptable, but it is too early to know if it will create extraordinary results. I’m just interested to see if the Senate passes a resolution congratulating itself for passing it.
Wesley Vaughn is a junior majoring in public relations and political science. His column runs on Wednesdays.
