There was a time at LSU when Student Government wasn’t nearly as important as it is today. Even when doing something as everyday as walking through the quad, one can’t help but notice SG’s impact. For example, the new recycling bins around campus were placed by Student Government (albeit they can’t seem to spell “Government”). The reason you can add and drop classes without receiving a “W” until Tuesday is because of measures taken by Student Government. Sure, SG knows most students are apathetic, but I believe they are trying to make life better for us.
Well, at least some of the time.
Let’s start with the good; I’ll get to the bad.
Last semester, SG President Allen Richey and his executive staff took enormous steps for the student body at this University.
From a successful bus trip to Ole Miss to the creation of “Chats with the Chancellor,” the executive branch of SG is doing its part to decrease student apathy.
Now, if only the Student Senate could catch up.
The senate spent the last semester debating one major piece of legislation — a new election code.
After last Spring’s election, many members of the student body expressed disappointment in the current election code, so a committee was formed over the summer to revise the election code and submit it to the senate.
SG Bill No. 11, commonly referred to as “the election code bill,” was introduced in early October, and quickly became the focus of the senate’s entire semester.
The senate squabbled over many issues within the election code and repeatedly revised it, until it passed in early November.
An entire semester’s debate culminated in the passage of this election code, and it seemed like a great triumph for the senate. The students would soon have a defined ticket system and most importantly, online voting.
This election code was heralded as the answer to student apathy towards SG–the perfect code.
But it was not to be. President Richey had more than one problem with the election code, and vetoed it. Richey disagreed with some of the principles defining “active campaigning.”
Basically, Richey did not like the senate’s definition of how and when a candidate can begin to solicit your all-important vote.
And he hopefully did the right thing. As much as students would like online elections, who wants to be hounded by some mini-politician about the Spring election in December?
Richey said the new election code, which had no set date for the beginning of active campaigning, would allow candidates to hound students for votes the entire year.
By the time the election code bill passed through the senate — veto and all, only one more senate session remained, in which controversy regarding Speaker Michael Busada’s staff kept the senate’s attention for most of the meeting.
After that meeting, many senate members expressed their disappointment with the semester’s events. Busada, still remembering the legislative agenda he put before the senate in August, promised a better semester this Spring.
“We want to start debating things that directly affect the students,” Busada told the Reveille Nov. 20. “We want big things for students, and we haven’t yet given students a reason to go out and vote for us.”
You took the words right out of my mouth, Mr. Speaker.
Like the rest of SG, the legislature has the power to impact students’ lives every day, and they need to play catch up to an exec staff that’s steadily checking off its accomplishments — or face even more student apathy.
The legislature controls the money, and — through the system of checks and balances — are arguably the most powerful branch of SG. Now, at the start of a new semester where the slate has been wiped clean, the students must pay more attention to what their representatives are doing.
Senators, you have a power that not many other students ever will have. Use your influence to improve student life on campus and live up to your title as a representative of the student body.