Well, Mr. McCarthy? Where is the outrage? Where is the dramatic stand against the University? Where is the demand that the University treat its students with the common respect we deserve?

Oh, I know it’s all been said before: SGA can only do so much. Maybe that’s true. Maybe the SGA is only good for the small bureaucratic victories we’ve seen from it in the past. In that case, perhaps it is time for the SGA to dissolve until a more effective body can take its place. If the SGA will not fight to represent students, then it has no right to claim its position.

Phillip brings up a good point. The SGA President and Vice President had this to say in their own editorial on Friday:

Although we wish students would have had input in the fee, the decision has been made. Davis has committed, however, to improving communication regarding these actions in the future.

Looking forward, we will work with the administration and the Board of Regents to minimize the effect we, as students, feel from the budget cuts.

Phillip followed up his letter with a post on his blog.

Instead of wising up and not sending out these emails to his buddies anymore, President McCarthy decided to stick a stock “privileged” notice at the bottom of his emails.  In two emails sent to Hatin’ SGA since McCarthy’s last email to the Honors students, McCarthy has added the following notice:

This message is intended exclusively for the individual(s) or entity to which it is addressed. It may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy, or disseminate this message or any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and delete all copies of the message.

That is all cool and everything. Except for the fact that President McCarthy is a public servant who receives a paycheck from the University of Georgia (look in the budgets here under “Personnel Services”).

Thus, the emails of our esteemed SGA President are an open record (for more information see here).  This means that any record McCarty makes during the fulfillment of his job and office is subject to public viewing and copying.

President McCarthy, despite your threat that I am not authorized to read or disseminate your email, I am going to put them on the world wide intertubes for students to see what you are doing as our SGA president.  If you have any problems with this, I am always available.

— Connor McCarthy wrote:

To: tatesociety@listserv.uga.edu, fellowsonly@REDACTED.com, ramsey-scholars@listserv.uga.edu, beta@listserv.uga.edu
From: “Connor McCarthy”
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:31:31 -0400
Subject: [fellowsonly] Spanish Minor

Dear All,

Last week, the University Curriculum Committee voted to deactivate the Spanish minor despite opposition from Student Government Association, several faculty members, and Vice President for Instruction Jere Morehead. The final vote will be taken on April 22. We fully intend to work as a
student body to keep the Spanish minor at UGA.

But we need your help. Many of you are Spanish minors or know Spanish minors, and we are asking you to write letters in support of keeping the minor at the University of Georgia. SGA will present your letters to University Council to make sure that your voice is heard. The letters can be as short as your name, age, and a statement of support for keeping the Spanish minor at UGA or as long as you would like. Feel free to view the letter we wrote to President Michael Adams regarding the issue at www.uga.edu/sga for any ideas. Your letters can be emailed to Amrita Veliyath, the student representative on Curriculum Committee, at veliyath@uga.edu. Please continue to spread the word about this important issue! Together we can be a cohesive voice.

Thank you,
Connor McCarthy, Nicki Batelli, & Amrita Veliyath

SGA President, SGA Vice President, & SGA Curriculum Committe Representative

This message is intended exclusively for the individual(s) or entity to which it is addressed. It may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy, or disseminate this message or any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and delete all copies of the message.

And here is his second email:

— Connor McCarthy wrote:

To: fellowsonly@REDACTED.com, ramsey-scholars@listserv.uga.edu, tatesociety@listserv.uga.edu
From: “Connor McCarthy”
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:49:12 -0400
Subject: [fellowsonly] Survey and a Story

Hey guys,

Please take a survey (http://vpsa4.vpsa.uga.edu/surveys/sgapollapril2008/sgapollapril2008.htm) concerning three of the issues we’re working on.

I know you get a lot of emails from me but I try to make them as enjoyable as possible. Therefore, I have included a story (below) that will probably make you chuckle like an old man and will potentially help you in the upcoming national elections.

Love,
Conman

An old country preacher had a teenage son, and it was getting time the boy should give some thought to choosing a profession.

Like many young men, the boy didn’t really know what he wanted to do, and he didn’t seem too concerned about it.

One day, while the boy was away at school, his father decided to try an experiment.

He went into the boy’s room and placed on his study table four objects:
a Bible,
a silver dollar,
a bottle of whisky
and a Playboy magazine

“I’ll just hide behind the door,” the old preacher said to himself, “when he comes home from school this afternoon, I’ll see which object he picks up.

If it’s the Bible, he’s going to be a preacher like me and what a blessing that would be! If he picks up the dollar, he’s going to be a businessman, and that would be okay, too.

But if he picks up the bottle, he’s going to be a no-good drunkard, and, Lord, what a shame that would be, and worst of all, if he picks up that magazine he’s gonna be a skirt-chasin’ bum.

The old man waited anxiously, and soon heard his son’s footsteps as he entered the house whistling and headed for his room.

The boy tossed his books on the bed, and as he turned to leave the room he spotted the objects on the table. With curiosity in his eye, he walked over to inspect them.

Finally, he picked up the Bible and placed it under his arm. He picked up the silver dollar and dropped it into his pocket.

He uncorked the bottle and took a big drink while he admired this month’s Centerfold.

“Lord have mercy,” the old preacher disgustedly whispered,

“He’s gonna run for Congress.”

–
This message is intended exclusively for the individual(s) or entity to which it is addressed. It may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy, or disseminate this message or any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and delete all copies of the message.

*Notification of away game ticket information will be emailed to students by Tuesday, August 28th. Away game tickets will not be picked up with the home tickets.

Today is Wednesday, August 29, and students have yet to get emails about which away game tickets we received and when they can be picked up. I understand that the Student Ticket Office at the AA has a lot of problems to deal with this week, but if you tell someone they will get an email, send them the email by the specified time.

However, for all intensive purposes, The Key is dead.

After Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness Bob Boehmer crippled the online database of grade distributions in spring 2006 by removing professors’ names, there was an outcry by students to return The Key to its former self.

The Student Government Association, under then-President Jamie Peper, claimed to have struck a deal with the administration in which The Key would be returned, but under the control of SGA.

Several months later, The Key did pop up on the SGA web site, but has sat dormant now for the past year without updates.

Then, last week the former SGA webmaster Cory Watson responded to the criticism with an editorial of his own:

It takes one or two hours to get the text file to a point when it can be entered into the database. We are not allowed to post information for classes with less than 20 students in an effort to keep grades confidential, so those must be edited out. After that, the text file is uploaded to the database and it is a two to three hour ordeal to make it into a new page on The Key.

…

I am not paid hundreds of dollars per year, although I have not looked at the budget and am not aware if someone else is being paid to be the webmaster now. Mine was a one-time payment for the initial site design and setup.

It was my understanding that Cory Watson agreement with SGA was $1,000 for site design, setup, hosting, domain name, updates for a year, AND updating The Key.

So, here we are, summer 2007. And what is the status of The Key?

It is outdated, spread out over several websites, and unhelpful to students.

And what about all those campaign promises and Facebook groups about The Key? Ineffective.

As such, the editor of the Ruddle Report, Paul Ruddle, has made available an Excel file with the 1999 through 2006 Key data.

If you would like to see the older HTML version of The Key (1999 through 2005), the Black Tie Party has made it available here.

To compare, of the 17 other members on the Committee (all professors), only one was absent without a substitute.

The minutes are available here (pdf).

They are reporting that it won’t cost the University System too much more, but no word in the article of how much more it will cost students (who thought they would pay the same during their four year stay at state institutions).

I would be rather upset if I came to UGA (or Tech, or anywhere public in Georgia) under the assumption that my tuition was going to hold steady for four years, only to find out 6 months later that it might increase.

For some background info on the four-year, fixed tuition plan, see here and here.

This drop seems to be tied to the implementation of the Plus/Minus grading system.

I think this new system will lead to fewer UGA students getting into grad schools.  Any thoughts?

After further review and a hearing on the complaint filed by Paul Ruddle, the Elections Committee of the Student Government Association in a majority decision decided that the Proposed Constitution of the Student Government Association did not meet the requirements of 10% for ratification. Therefore, the decision stands that the proposed constitution has failed and will not take effect.

For the backstory, see here.

As surprising as this is, maybe this is a positive step forward for the new SGA administration. By having some sort of accountability, some in SGA (read: not President Peper or VP Suber) have shown they want to make SGA a stronger, more student-friendly organization.

But, I think we should all be disappointed in the representation of a few. Outgoing SGA President Peper and VP Suber tried to cover up this matter, deceive students, and were extremely upset that their opinions weren’t final. If they had had their way, the students’ opinions would have been foregone, in the name of what is best for students.

PS – You heard it first at Hatin’ SGA.

The question here is that the SGA Constitution requires 10% of the students to vote in a “special election” for the SGA Constitution, before the Constitution can be approved.

So, how many students voted in the election? Well, it depends what the definition of “special election” is, Mr. Clinton.
Here are the official results of the SGA Election (referendums only):

To me, the SGA Constitution did not pass. Only 2,888 students voted, below the needed 10%. This is more like 8%.
But SGA officials contend that 3,662 students total voted ANYWHERE on the ballot, and thus, the Constitution was approved (and 3,662 is just barely 10%). Some students, it seems, voted only for candidates (probably their friends, brothers, or sisters) and didn’t bother to vote on any of the referendums.

Who knows if this is true? Only the SGA and the UGA administration, it seems. Both are refusing to supply the election results and final vote tallies to anyone who asks. The SGA website says the following:

***More accurate statistical information will soon be available. [see here]

I think this is completely wrong, and I encourage students to act. Do not let narrow-minded SGA officials try and squeeze through approval of their precious Constitution.

Click here to send an email to all members of the Elections Committee, and tell them you disagree with the new SGA Constitution being approved.