Spring Break
StuCo's fresh start?
Issue date: 1/31/08
This page has opined extensively on the general irrelevance of the Student Council and its chronic inability to achieve anything of genuine import to the student body. Climate change, Sudanese divestment, the loss of credit for internships - these are just a few of the many issues that have come to predominate the social and academic environments on campus without so much of a whimper from the Council.
And in a rare moment of sincerity, several members of the Council seem to have acknowledged this sad reality and committed themselves to changing it. Six of those members, led by Council President Scott Bierbryer '08 and Senator for Legislation Evan Lazerowitz '10, are drafting a new Student Council constitution, in the hope that fundamentally restructuring the way the Council works will make it a more powerful voice for student interests.
We agree that the Council is in desperate need of fundamental change, and it is possible that a new constitution will inject the Council with the energy it has previously lacked. A school-wide vote might also be a healthy way of reengaging the student body in the business of its representative government. Undergraduates have been chronically disconnected from the student council, which cannot lobby for student interests effectively without a mandate from its constituents.
The bulk of these changes seem purely cosmetic. For one, the new constitution would change the name of the Council to the Student Government Association. It would also reshuffle a lot of positions and rename a lot of titles, changes that hardly seem necessary for achieving the Council's broader policy objectives.
Supporters of the new constitution also intend to restructure the way the Student Activities Committee works - a potentially treacherous policy change considering the sprawling financial power of the SAC. This page has often quibbled with the way the SAC doles out funding for student groups, and it may very well be necessary to restructure the way that process works, but the Council should not do so lightly.
And in a rare moment of sincerity, several members of the Council seem to have acknowledged this sad reality and committed themselves to changing it. Six of those members, led by Council President Scott Bierbryer '08 and Senator for Legislation Evan Lazerowitz '10, are drafting a new Student Council constitution, in the hope that fundamentally restructuring the way the Council works will make it a more powerful voice for student interests.
We agree that the Council is in desperate need of fundamental change, and it is possible that a new constitution will inject the Council with the energy it has previously lacked. A school-wide vote might also be a healthy way of reengaging the student body in the business of its representative government. Undergraduates have been chronically disconnected from the student council, which cannot lobby for student interests effectively without a mandate from its constituents.
The bulk of these changes seem purely cosmetic. For one, the new constitution would change the name of the Council to the Student Government Association. It would also reshuffle a lot of positions and rename a lot of titles, changes that hardly seem necessary for achieving the Council's broader policy objectives.
Supporters of the new constitution also intend to restructure the way the Student Activities Committee works - a potentially treacherous policy change considering the sprawling financial power of the SAC. This page has often quibbled with the way the SAC doles out funding for student groups, and it may very well be necessary to restructure the way that process works, but the Council should not do so lightly.
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