This summer, The Daily Reveille published a front-page article entitled “Student Government Football Bus Trip: $32,690” which reported on SG’s use of student fees to bankroll this weekend’s trip to the University of Tennessee.
At the time, we objected to this expenditure in two pieces, a staff editorial and a column written by then Editor-in-Chief Mathew Sanders.
More than four months later, we reiterate that position.
The argument against using this amount of money for this reason is simple. The student body at this University pays fees every semester to finance SG’s Initiative Fund, which should be used frugally and only on occasions when the entire student body stands to benefit, not just a select few. Spending $32,690 on a 27-hour trip to Tennessee-roughly $1,210.74 per hour-is not fiscally responsible.
Members of the Student Senate and SG President Chris Odinet’s administration have argued this is an appropriate expenditure because the trip is popular, and they hope it will become an LSU tradition.
But it’s not SG’s function to be popular. SG’s function is to represent the best interests of its constituents. As we’ve previously stated, popularity should not be a deciding factor. After all, free beer on the Parade Ground would be immensely popular but hardly responsible.
Furthermore, SG, specifically the Student Senate, has proven itself to be a broken organization this semester, one incapable of overcoming constant in-fighting and skewed priorities. This semester alone, we’ve called for and received the resignation of the speaker of the Student Senate and come out against the Senate’s refusal to consider itself a public body and follow open meetings laws. The Daily Reveille has also covered the fiasco surrounding a senator’s use of a racial slur and the accompanying failed impeachment proceedings of Sen. Ricardo Malbrew.
But money, in particular, is an important issue for all of us. Many students work hard to pay their fee bills, and SG has shown its lack of respect and compassion for these people by failing to use that money for the benefit of all.
This University is at a crossroads. The LSU System is searching for a new president. The University is trying to raise money for its Capital Campaign and to improve its “third-tier” status.
If LSU is ever to become what it wants to be, we, the students, must take the initiative and show we can be morally, academically and fiscally responsible.
Our apathy has led us to elect leaders unwilling to care or represent our interests.
Only through our activism and voting power can we rectify this situation and achieve the greatness we know we can.
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