When Thomas Paine said “That government is best which governs least,” he obviously wasn’t talking about Student Government. But sometimes a little big government is just what the doctor ordered — and we believe the SG Senate’s latest attempt to exercise its power of the purse is exactly the kind of big government needed on campus to get SG back on track.The SG Senate amended and passed SGB No. 7 last Wednesday, a bill that increases scrutiny given to all SG Presidential expenditures from the SG Corporate Sponsorship account — an account that contains all corporate contributions raised by SG. Once SG President Colorado Roberston signs the legislation into effect, SG’s rules will require SG presidents to receive Senate approval for every expense they make.”The Executive branch has to get approval for any corporate expense over $1,000,” said Drew Prestridge, speaker pro tempore of the SG Senate. “But Groovin’ On The Grounds, Battle of the Bands and the SG Bus Trip are all OK.”SGB No. 7 sets up two steps in the oversight process. First, the new president will be required to submit all proposed expenses from the SG Corporate Sponsorship fund when the presidential term begins in a document submitted to the Student Senate. The Senate will then either pass, fail or amend the document. Second, if the president decides additional expenses are necessary or would be good for the students — and if those additional expenses were not explicitly listed in the corporate sponsorship package — any additional expenses of any amount must receive Senate approval.”Anything that’s not explicitly stated has to go through the Senate for approval,” said Ben Clark, SG Speaker of the Senate.If this sounds convoluted, that’s because it is. But sometimes convoluted is necessary, especially where student fees are concerned — and if the only way we can get full transparency and accountability is through bureacracy, well, we’ll take it.Roberston agrees.”[The Senate and the Executive branch] did reach a compromise,” Robertson said. “I was satisfied with the bill. I’d like to have discretionary spending from an account other than student fees. But the Senate had their peace, and I’m not going to veto the bill just because I don’t like one part of it. It still accomplishes our main goal of spending on corporate sponsorship events.””We’ll look for other discretionary funding available to SG,” Robertson added.We have seen what happens when student leaders are left to their own devices without oversight. SG’s list of past transgressions defies belief. Though our campus scandals don’t hold a patch on the things Lousiana politicians have gotten up to in the past, the breadth and frequency of them has been disappointing. Student fees were used to cater quesadillas at an SG Senate meeting. SG members used University-provided Blackberries for personal phone calls. Impeachment hearings were held when a member of the graduate delegation investigated another senator’s use of racial slurs. Our last president was accused of handing out Board of Supervisors’ scholarships to members of her campaign staff.This year’s SG seems well on course to atone for the misdeeds of years past — a change long overdue and much needed.—-Contact the Editorial Board at [email protected]
Our View: ‘Big government’ move is what what SG needs
October 11, 2008