liz allan, sga president
guest column
On Wednesday, Student Government will run campus-wide voting for student initiatives and constitutional reform. The initiative votes are a means of voicing mass student opinion on campus concerns. The constitutional amendment proposes a means of dramatically increasing Joint Board dynamics and effectiveness. Both are a critical part of self-governance and student representation.
For those new to this, the voting procedure is simple: Log onto Blackboard.Grinnell.edu using your NT username and password and find the link to vote under “SGA-Election” (under the organizations list). You will be forwarded to an online survey with a multiple-choice ballot. Complete the ballot (feel free to leave items blank as you wish) and log out—it takes no more than a few minutes.
You will see eight student initiatives on the ballot. These are non-binding and should be self-explanatory. In order to pass, an initiative must receive two-thirds approval with at least 50 percent of the campus voting. If an initiative passes, I take it to the appropriate office or committee for further action.
The other item on the ballot is a constitutional reform that restructures and condenses the body of senators. I’m writing this to encourage you to vote “yes” for the reform. Here’s why:
Right now, each hall has at least one senator. There are two for larger halls, two for students in campus-owned houses and three for students who live elsewhere in town. Every Wednesday at Joint Board, all senators meet with cabinet members to discuss SGA activities and wider campus issues. We gained four senators this year with the addition of east campus, bringing our total to 27. I feel that Joint Board has become unmanageably large—to the point where we cannot have productive discussion. I want to reduce the overall size of the body to facilitate conversation about critical campus issues in the coming semester.
More importantly, a reduction in senators increases the individual senators’ investment in SGA. Students seem less and less interested in serving as SGA senators. I don’t blame them. Joint Board conflicts with The West Wing, which certainly presents much more exciting weekly political drama. Aside from that, Grinnellians are busy people who care deeply but don’t have time to register a formal opinion every week. As a result, senator elections are often uncontested or entirely unattended and students-at-large have almost no choice in their student government representation. For first-semester students, student staff and others who can’t do the job themselves (for whatever reason), this is particularly frustrating.
Under the proposed constitutional amendment, senators work in “teams” of two to three per each RLC cluster, with an additional team for all students not living in residence halls. The reform reduces the overall number of senators from 27 to 17.
The proposed change does not diminish the quality of your representation. While senators will be responsible for more than one building, your senators will still live relatively close by and thus can respond to local concerns. Because they will work in teams, senators can divide up responsibilities and call hall council meetings, distribute information more efficiently. The reduction in numbers increases competition for positions. Tougher elections mean that candidates will put more energy into convincing constituents to vote for them. Voters, in turn, have a real choice between candidates.
In short: Quantity down, quality up. Your senator will have an easier job with help from co-senator(s), you will feel confident in casting a vote for representation and I will have a smaller and perhaps chattier Joint Board.
I hope that students do not feel disenfranchised by this measure. SGA remains as open as ever to student input—in fact, I’m looking now for students who are interested in serving on a student self-governance committee beginning in January (shameless plug; e-mail me about it). I just want to channel input differently and clean up representation. Joint Board meetings are open to the public (Wednesday 7:30 North Lounge). With this reform and other Joint Board changes in place, maybe more students-at-large will feel comfortable attending and joining in on the conversation.
No system is perfect, but I think we have done a good job of refining this one to be as strong as possible. For instance, a new provision in the bylaws provides senator campaign funding. And just in case it doesn’t work out, a sunset clause allows Joint Board to revoke the changes next fall. Joint Board overwhelmingly favors the amendment: Last week, 23 senators voted for the reform and only twoopposed it. This week, only one opposed.
I hope that you feel similarly confident in voting for this change. In case you have questions, I can be reached at [sgaprez]. I will be in my office (Forum lower level) today from noon until about 4:30 and on Monday from 1-3 to talk with individual students.
By positioning the change midyear, I can ensure smooth adjustment to the new system. Campus issues inevitably intensify in the spring semester; making the reform now prepares us to improve Joint Board and constituency dynamics just in time to deal with major issues. In other words, this is the perfect time for the student community to improve its role in campus decision-making. I urge you to vote (and vote “yes”) on Wednesday.
Arts | News | Opinion | Profiles | Sports | Archives | About Us