SGA Accomplishes Something

      Wow!  What a fun SGA meeting we had tonight guys!  Not only did we get through our one piece of new business in less than two hours, but we also got to squabble over little nothings along the way.  Let’s get one thing out of the way first – I may be wrong but the resolution we were supposed to pass stated “BE IT ENACTED, the SGA officially endorses the Campus Safety Reform Proposal” – nothing else of consequence was contained in that resolution, least of which was the actual proposal.  The proposal, an independent document created by five senators was only called to be endorsed; it was not voted on or approved.  Therefore, I believe that every call to amend the document was out of order – I believe we could no more amend the Campus Safety Reform Proposal than we could if a similar document had come to us from students outside the SGA asking for our approval.            

           Even if the proceedings were legal, all they demonstrated was apathy disguised under concern.  The point of the general senate meeting is not to rewrite documents submitted to the body – it is to approve them with as little bureaucracy as possible.  The last thing that should have happened was an attempt to systematically tear apart the document.  Either you should have decided to vote, or you should have motioned for the document to be sent back to a drafting committee by tabling it.  What I saw was apathy, pure and simple, people cared about this issue when it came on a Sunday, when they had to be there, but only five actually showed up on Saturday to write the damn thing – if you cared so much about campus safety you should have been there.  I can accept that some senators had conflicts, but almost every senator who opened their mouths began “I wanted to be there on Saturday but …”  The people who treat the SGA as a Sunday-night-only club are a cancer on the organization.  Every one of the issues that were brought up tonight should have been brought up in the, completely open, drafting committee.  This is why we have these committees, so we don’t have to spend two hours rewriting the document. 

            So I’m glad to see we accomplished so much – we changed a document we really had no right to change to say … basically the same thing it did originally and we all clapped at the end and felt good about ourselves because we accomplished something.  As far as I’m concerned, the only people who accomplished anything were Nathan, Mark, Andrew, Krystal, and Andrea.

A Thoughtful Post?

A few moments ago I helped pass an unfriendly amendment to fellow Senator Nathan Kirschbaum’s resolution calling for Senators to post two blog posts per semester or be censured. I suggested that rather than requiring posts they should be “encouraged.” I did this for several reasons, first, yes a part of me resented that I was forced to “blog.” A blog is not a report, it’s meant to be an informal expression, how does one regulate informal expressions? However, more than that, I was concerned that many of my fellow senators, as Senator Blum put it, were too “lazy” to actually complete the task adequately. “Lazy” is the word that had been used in session, being diplomatic I might have used “busy” or another adjective but the implication is the same. I did not, however, propose the amendment out of a sense of idealism, I do not believe that most senators, without being required, will post much of anything. Long story short, after much of the SGA’s characteristic bickering, the amendment to the resolution was passed and senators were simply “encouraged” to post. That basically translates into you, the reader, probably seeing far fewer posts than if the resolution had passed un-amended. I’m somewhat disappointed my amendment passed, not because I was wrong – if it had passed this board would fill up with “required” posts, most of relatively little substance. Rather, I’m disappointed my amendment passed because I wish I had been wrong. I wish people would have jumped up and said “two posts, simple!” – and, while some did, the majority that didn’t jump up convinced me I was right not to force them to post.