As we head toward Student Government Association voting next week, the slates are campaigning for their respective positions. The real question to be decided by the student body is which (if either) slate is more qualified to lead SGA.
I still stand by my previous opinion on SGA -- that it is a pointless waste of time (Feb. 25, 2002 -- available in my Web site and through the Daily News online) -- and next week I will again make the argument that the SGA is useless, but this week we will focus on why neither slate is qualified or capable of leading.
Loving Slate: The Loving Slate is a diverse group of candidates who have served in SGA previously. Greatest flaw: Creating an under-the-table agreement with the Manship Slate to avoid the elections board of the SGA. If this team cannot be trusted to follow the rules of the organization they wish to serve, how can they serve as elected officials?
Loving's Platform: According to the slate's Web site, this group clearly doesn't even understand what the SGA is meant to do. They want impossible resolutions to complex problems.
They want to change the way information is kept to remove Social Security information from "all university documents and Web site." This of course would cancel the availability of federal aid for all students because this information must be provided to receive such assistance.-รก
The concept of the SGA is to advocate students. Their second major platform initiative is to inform students. The job of informing students is for the Daily News and the students themselves.
As the SGA reaches so few students, how do they intend to spread such information? Leaflet drop? Perhaps dragging banners behind planes? SGA's job is to address student issues and take them to the administration, not dispense information.
I wish it stopped there, but their ignorance and fallacies continue through their poorly drafted platform. Read it for yourself and decide how much of their objectives can be accomplished (http://lovingslate.tripod.com). Most likely, none of it will make a difference.
Manship Slate: While the Manship slate didn't have the desire to provide biographies of the candidates on its Web site, this is what is known about them: They haven't been a part of SGA, they are all men, and all Caucasian. Greatest flaw: A total lack of SGA experience and a lack of diversity make them incapable of representing all students in a student advocacy group.
Manship's Platform: Another platform that completely violates the concept of SGA. Not one item throughout their slate deals with student advocacy. Not one item presents solutions to campus problems. Words like "increase awareness" and "encourage students" make up a good portion of their stated platform. Again, these are not the jobs of the SGA.
You can view their platform on their Web site as well (http://votemanship.com). Again, legislation like this isn't going to accomplish anything for the student body, thus defeating the mission of the SGA.
I wish I could endorse a slate. I had hoped that this year would bring a candidate seeking to reform the SGA from within and move it back toward its true mission: student advocacy.
I can't endorse either slate. No matter who wins next week, the student body is the real loser.
Write to Russell at rlg@temporalfront.com
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