Drill me

Wow! I’ve finally managed to swallow my pride and took this step into what seems to be an interesting journey. Well, before I start making stupid comments I figured it would be wise to seek some form of wisdom from those who are already endowed with the knowledge of how things are ran by the SGA.

My question for today is not that complicated. What is the job description of class senators? I ask because I remember two weeks after school had started in the fall, I saw fliers of aspiring candidates everywhere. They were posted on the door to my dorm, on each floor in Elton and some in Mather. The intimacy that I formed with these fliers was that characterized by hope. I was hopeful that as a freshman my concerns as a citizen of this campus will be echoed by one of the faces on these fliers. I was hopeful that someone would help me understand the jargon used in the draft resolutions of the SGA. I was hopeful that I was going to find a friend in one of these faces. I was hopeful that the flaws of politics in the secular world were not going to reverberate in Trinity’s politics. But I guess I was blinded by optimism –lured into abstraction while being oblivious to reality.

Where are my class senators? What are they doing? Can they spare me some time; to walk me through the SGA jargons, to listens to the throat eruptions of concerns that have crippled my life here, to review with me the promises they made in the fall. I want to know where these people –my heroes and my reason for believing in SGA politics, are. Can someone please tell me if I had expected too much from my class senators. If I was really blinded by optimism. Save me before I lose my mind.

7 Comments

• 
  Joe Tarzi April 15, 2008 at 11:33 pm

  Yes … too much optimism. Also probably had your hopes set a little too high – but I guess that’s the same thing.
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  Andrea Wise April 15, 2008 at 11:46 pm

  Hi, I’m Andrea Wise, I’m one of your senators. While I am far from being deserving of the title “hero” I would be very happy to explain the jargon surrounding the SGA and to explain everything that we do. I’m glad that you took it upon yourself to post on this website, because when I put up my posters in the fall, and wrote “Questions? Let’s talk” followed by my e-mail address, I was hoping/expecting to get a flood of e-mails by concerned peers. To this day, I have received not a single e-mail about an SGA related issue from anyone outside the SGA. Perhaps we can arrange a time to meet this weekend to talk.
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  Andrea Wise April 15, 2008 at 11:49 pm

  I couldn’t find your e-mail address on the Trinity directory, but if you would like to sit down and talk, send me an e-mail and we’ll find a time that works.

  Andrea.Wise@trincoll.edu
• 
  Changamire Domba April 16, 2008 at 12:11 am

  I appreciate the comments that both of you sent even though I felt like Joe kind of just tried to play it safe. I don’t know whether you are a senator or not but let just assume you are. I feel like asking you to voice my concerns as a citizen at the SGA should be a part of your job,if not then what is? I sound persistent because I really feel like there should at least be some interaction between those of us who are being led and those you are leading us such that our concerns become your concerns. Honestly, we do appreciate what you guys are doing to the campus at large but in terms of be representatives for your individual classes I feel like you have failed us. However having said that I really felt like Senator Wise gave me a satisfying answer. One that I was hoping to get. Ps: I never got the email you sent though.
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  Andrea Wise April 16, 2008 at 12:31 am

  I didn’t send an e-mail: I couldn’t find your e-mail address on the directory. I guess you’re unlisted, if you’d like to talk, could you send me an e-mail?
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  Ibrahim Diall April 27, 2008 at 11:39 pm

  You know for so long I had pull people aside and talked to them about SGA. I am sure I am not the only one. Many members of the SGA legitimately care about what the student body thinks and we go out of our way to represent our constituents. For one, I do not have a TV in my room and don’t plan on having one soon, yet I championed for the need of cable. There are many senators that actually do this kind of thing because we know it is what we are elected to do and it is what our constituents want. To suggest that we are out of touch with our constituents I believe is an insult to us all. I posted earlier on how we should work harder to get people involved but we should not be faulted for the lack of thereof. Mr/Mrs. Domba I understand your concern and with all due respect don’t sit around and expect us to extract your needs and voice your concern at our meeting. The senators of your class are listed on the SGA website and I promise you, if you e-mail anyone of them, they will get back to you within 48 hours. Do you expect your congressman to be at your door and asking you what you need? The same applies here.

  Quick questions for you:
  1. Have you ever watched the meetings that we had on live for weeks on our website? Many issues were address but you might have missed it I am sure.
  2. Where were you when SGA sent an e-mail calling on the student body to participate on a forum to inform the public on how we spent $750,000? No one showed up (Yes, that is our budget and we just raised it. It will now be close to a million if not more).
  The list can go on and on and on. You think we don’t listen to our constituents? Ask the student that took her time to come to our meeting and tell us about sexual assault on campus. SGA quickly moved to create an AD HOC committee that is currently dealing with that. I commend Senator Wise for her great leadership and passion for the issue. Campus safety? We are on top of it. With the Tripod laying the ground work for negotiation, we will continue the fight. We welcome suggestions and dialogue. We will continue to represent the student body. We will continue to sit through 3-hour meetings to do the job that many prefer not to do. We will continue having committee meetings that bring about the real changes this campus needs. We will continue to fight this administration to get student locks for their rooms, cable, and many other things. We will not stop.
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  Changamire Domba April 28, 2008 at 8:31 am

  Ibrahim there is no need for you get all that defensive. Its Ngoni by there way. You might have missed the point that I was stressing…I didn’t imply in any sense that you should present any of my concerns as the main agenda of at your session. I don’t see asking you to do a little more an insult at all. If you did I sincerely apologize but to express yourself the way you have [as a victim]if you ask me wasn’t necessary.

  I have watched and read about your committee sessions and I am impressed. I am humbled to have people like you making every effort to improve our lives on this campus. However most of the things you included are matters that affect the campus as a whole. Despite your humorous illustration about me wanting you guys to knock on my door so I can tell you my concerns, I feel it is your duty to mingle with the people in your constituency. There is a lot that is amiss in their lives besides cable, campus safety and the budget issues. Matters that don’t necessarily have to be resolved in SGA meetings but in between you and the people. You live for the people and regardless the pain that comes from there seemly unconcerned behavior, they need you.

  We are proud by the success that most of our class senators have carried themselves in the SGA this year but God forbid if we don’t express our frustration with how you have distanced yourself from us. Yes you’ve meet some of your people but maybe there are two or three people who would have wanted to talk with you but because you made such interaction so private they were disadvantaged. I really think if the role of the SGA is want your constitution say then we need some more action on your part and on ours as well.

  And whenever time allows us I would want you to meet a few of us to talk about the Bill of Rights that was sent to us. I think we can do a better job in producing a document that is far-reaching than it is now. [which is mostly our fault because we never took part in its development.]

  Lastly, I WISH YOU A SUCCESSFUL TERM AS THE VIP OF MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS.