Student Government will hold its first Senate meeting of the semester tonight at 6:30 in the Atchafalaya Room in the Union. We anticipate this will be an eventful occasion, as much has happened since its last official meeting. In this space we’ve been highly critical of SG President Chris Odinet’s administration and SG as a whole for its allocation of $32,690 in student-generated funds for this year’s away-game bus trip to the University of Tennessee. We urge you, the students of this University, to take an active interest and attend this meeting. Whether or not you agree with this allocation of funds, it is your money and your government. But that’s not the only reason you should care about this meeting. The SG finance committee met last Sunday and debated a possible ethics violation regarding unauthorized charges on Senate Speaker Evan Bergeron’s Blackberry phone device. The committee’s findings are to be presented to the full Senate at tonight’s meeting. Former Executive Staff Member Crawford Leavoy was forced to resign his post in July after he incurred similar charges on his Blackberry. We believe it’s time for Bergeron to do the same and resign his post as senate speaker. The charges in question total only $73.25, a paltry sum when placed in context. Bergeron has since paid back the amount. He also contends that he was unaware the features he used were not part of SG’s Blackberry contract. “My whole thing is that I paid it back, and I did what I thought was right,” Bergeron said at Sunday’s meeting. “I was given no explanation of what services I was supposed to use. For this to be an ethics violation, I think I would have had to maliciously done something wrong.” This may be true. We don’t claim to know what Bergeron’s intentions were. When someone is chosen to serve in a position of leadership, they take on the added responsibility of holding themselves to a higher-than-normal standard. As a result, we find a claim of ignorance to be unacceptable. We also believe this is just the latest example of SG’s irresponsible attitude toward the student funds it has been allocated. This publication has previously reported on the bus trip spending and the $1,243.87 in catering costs to supply food for two meetings this past spring. It’s time SG was reminded that some students at this University are not as fortunate as others and have to work long hours just to cover the costs of tuition and fees. Any funds it has allocated from these fees should only be used when absolutely necessary. We believe SG needs to clean its proverbial house and rid itself of those who have forgotten about those it claims to represent. We believe it’s time for fresh faces to emerge and assume roles of leadership with class and responsibility. Frankly, we’re tired of continually writing about the same people and their seemingly endless indiscretions.
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