Get involved. Two words have never been more overused on this campus since the Most Reverend DuBourg decided in 1818 to set up a school in a private residence just west of the Mississippi. The person using it usually assumes the following: You have some internal desire to make changes on some grand scale, you’re not already involved at the level he or she finds satisfactory and, finally, you have the time to participate in whatever he or she happens to be peddling as “leadership experience” that day. So, I’d like to quickly apologize for what follows here in this brief call to arms, as I will be asking you to do what so many others have tried and most often failed to do: Get involved.
On Feb. 25, 2008, the Student Government Association will be having its 36th annual elections. Here will be another opportunity for all those kids who were class president in high school or captain of their debate team to once again show off how well they can play nice with administration and make decisions that don’t cause the rest of the student body to revolt. The majority of our campus–as the number of ballots cast indicates–doesn’t find this to be an occasion of note, but rather another chance to get a free T-shirt, bottle opener and doughnut (and in that order) from some candidate that looks a little too excited to be outside in a suit asking you to go on Banner and make him or her your representative at food services meetings in the future.
A lot of students don’t care about many things the SGA does, nor do they care if these candidates want to pretend like their decision to move ashtrays 25 feet from buildings is going to change where and when people smoke. These students just want to receive their degree at commencement, see better concerts than Rhianna every once in a while and watch a basketball team that doesn’t make the pre-game events at Humphrey’s seem like the highlight of the evening.
However, these students don’t see what else members of the SGA do while they’re not creating legislation to thank administrators for placing a bench by the shuttle pickup behind the BSC. When administrators wanted to gauge student reaction to the now dormant “Civility in the Classroom” policy proposals, they first met with SGA. When the Executive Board of the SGA decided that they would like to see a monumental celebration for the opening of the arena coming up this semester, they asked the Senators of SGA to approve their budget of more than $120,000 for the event. When the students of Smoke.Free.SLU wanted to find a way to end smoking on SLU’s campus, they went to SGA to ask for a referendum to be placed on the ballot you’ll see this February.
What we see here is a relatively small number of students making decisions on some of the most complained and talked-about issues on campus. To be honest, as a Senator in the current SGA, I’m afraid of how many decisions we make every Wednesday that I believe most students know little to nothing about. How many students would have stood up in favor of giving a couple of thousand dollars to the Equestrian team to ride horses with Student Activity Fee? How many students knew that SGA was carrying a six-digit rollover from funds not spent from the Student Activity Fee for the past couple years? These are things I would assume (maybe incorrectly) that each student would like to at least know about.
Unfortunately, when given the chance to select representatives who will make decisions for them, students sometimes get caught up in some of the more popular “issues.” Which ticket looks better on their poster? Who chose a better campaign color? Who’s more like me? Who is my Facebook friend? These issues won’t help you decide who should be speaking for you when something like Civility in the Classroom comes up for discussion. I would like to encourage every student to make some kind of attempt to get involved in the election process. In the coming weeks there will be debates, candidate campaign visits and even articles covering the elections in this very publication. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the candidates and the issues. You never know when you might need someone to represent your ideals and values on an issue that could impact the rest of your college career.
Aaron LaPlante is a senior in the John Cook School of Business.
