A quick update for the weekend.
After Action: Demosthenian Debate on SGA
The Great SGA Debate was indeed great. I was surprised at the turnout, both in the number of non-SGA people there and the small number of SOS candidates that came out to listen to student opinion. I don’t know all the SOS candidates by sight, but I believe I could count on one hand all the candidates for SGA that turned out (including Prez and VP ticket Katy Bowers and Ali Gibbons.
I think the most telling part of the debate didn’t take place on the podium, but in the cheap seats. After Prez-elect Katy Bowers said her piece (in front of the students she will soon be representing), both she and VP-elect Ali Gibbons left the debate, well before a vote on the resolution took place. While it was said Gibbons was under the weather, it is just plain sad that our student representatives don’t care about our opinions. They simply say their speech and leave.
At the very least, Bowers could have stayed. And if Gibbons was that sick, why did she come in the first place?
The Red and Black covered the debate decently well (at least better than this). A lot of good points were made in the comments, including one from Josh Weiss:
It should be noted that if members and guests had voted separately the resolution would have failed by the 2/3 margin as there were about 20 to 25 members of SGA who all understandably voted in favor of keeping SGA.
This is completely true. Not only did the SGA supporters all vote in favor of the resolution, but they also voted unanimously to end debate, while many, including myself, thought it should have continued since quite a few still wished to speak. Once again, it seems like SGA representatives don’t want to hear what students have to say.
R&B Reader Poll
Last week the Red and Black took an online poll asking whether or not SGA should be abolished. The results can be seen here. 44% of the voters said SGA should be abolished and 41% said SGA shouldn’t be abolished but that it’s structure needs change. The most telling number is that 16% of the voters said SGA is fine as-is.
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Is it really that telling? Even most SGA officeholders would agree on changing the structure, since there is a major Constitutional revision up for a vote this year. I’m actually a little surprised how high it is, since few people even within the organization think it’s an optimal setup. The most important thing is that 57% want to keep SGA around. Admittedly, it’s an unscientific poll, but I would guess it skews more anti- than pro-SGA, compared to the campus as a whole.
Actually, it could easily skew to the pro-SGA crowd. They could send a quick email out on their listserv and tell everyone to vote on the poll. I don’t think the anti-SGA crowd is anywhere near organized enough for that.
Soundslide from the debate.
http://www.demosthenian.com/scrapbook/GreatSGADebate07
Josh,
Thanks for the great soundslide! I posted about it here:
http://ugasga.com/2007/01/21/audio-and-pictures-from-debate/
If SGA were run like a corporation where not voting was the same as a “no” vote, then I think the odds might be different.
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