TO THE EDiatxt:
The SGA Farce:
The recent editorial in the NIT-
TAY CUB brought to the surface, whe
ther the editor realized it or not, the
lack of true student representation by
the SGA.
If the SGA were truly representa
tive of the student body, it wouldn't
be necessary for the editor to collect
(or attempt to collect) information
for the CUB in Culbertson lounge. In
stead she could go directly to the -SGA
members, and through them, find the o
pinions of the students.
I realize, of course, the SGA is
going to retaliate to this statement
by saying that they can't represent the
students if the students don't come to
'them with their problems. You've
heard it before: "They don't tell us
any of their complaints!" But don't
forget, when elected, SGA representa—
tives were chosen with the understan
&lLl; that they would represnet the stu
dents. That was to be their job: to
find the problems of the students and
attempt to do something abut them. Yet
row- many students have been approached
y and SGA member with questions con
cerning student affairs? Very few, I'd
venture to guess.
Thus far, the only obvious method
i used by the MA to obtain student opin
tion was the questionnaire distributed
tstt c registration. Admittedly, it was a
worthwhile step in the right direction,
but if this is to be the sole method
tlf obtaining student opinion, why are
epresentatives necessary?
It appears to me and many of ray
t e brillian colleagues" that membership
lin SGA is not prompted by a desire to
i. epresent the student body . , but in
stead by a desire to place oneself on
higher rung of the social ladder.
Membership in the SGA is considered
(at least by SGA members) to be a sta
tus symbol. Per baps the best evidence
of this was the notice, recently posted
on the bulletin board in the 0. B. Buil
ding requesting five persons t fill va
cant positions in the SGA. In part,
this notice read: "This is your big
chance to be where the action is 2 and to
help make the decisions instead of just
complaining ablut them." In the first
place, if the SGA is "where the action is"
Why are they making an appeal for members?
It seems as though they ought to be figh
ting them off.
Secondly, did the members ever stop
to investigate the basis of these com
plaints that they are so obviously aware
of? Immediately they pin the fault on
the students ehn it seems more logical
that the fault would be with the decisions
themselves.
Nay point is this: if the members
and representatives of the SGA could find
it even remotely possible to lower them
selves to the level of thestudents that
they supposedly represent, perhaps they
could obtain some of that respect that
they so badly need. And I'm sure that
they would find student cooperation ac
companying that respect.
I realize that by writing this letter
I am leaving myself wide opent to criti
cism, but after observing for four terms
the obvious failure of the SGA and noting
the lack of action on their part, I deci
ded that criticism (yes, even from and "or
dinary student")would be the best method
of prompting the necessary action.
Incidentally, I don't claim to be a
"journalistic expert" nor do I think I
ever could be.
Bob Hilton