SGA actions seem to fall into three categories: the useful, theimpractical, and the absurd.
We support the SGA effort to get a student center built betweenthe Arts and Journalism Building and the Teachers College. We fear,however, that this plan falls into the "impractical" category.
Certainly, SGA should be ambitious. But at present, they don'thave the power to push the University Senate and the Board ofTrustees to take action on such a large expenditure.
In the meantime, they need to work on gaining student trust sothat they will have the power to push successfully for the newstudent center when the time comes.
The only way SGA can gain greater influence over the UniversitySenate and the trustees is to get the student body behind them.It's pretty easy to ignore a few dozen senators; it's much harderto ignore 18,000 students.
In order to get the backing of the student body, SGA shouldfocus on "useful" initiatives that are nevertheless doable.
In the past, SGA has pushed for crosswalks to improve studentsafety, raises for student employees, and a day off to celebrateMartin Luther King, Jr. Those initiatives make life noticeablybetter for students, and therefore make more students believe inand support their representatives.
Unfortunately, this year SGA has not passed a single piece oflegislation. It has discussed issues that tend more toward "absurd"than "useful."
They want the library to send notices to students when books areoverdue. This discourages individual responsibility. We're incollege now, and we shouldn't need the library to hold ourhands.
They want to clearly define paths across grassy areas on campus,which would have no noticeable impact on students.
One senator even hesitated to talk with our reporter because shewas afraid we would criticize her legislation in an editorial. Onewonders why she even proposed legislation that she thought wouldinvite mockery?
Instead, SGA should focus on issues that, while within the realmof possibility, make a real difference.
For example, they could send a statement to the city councilexpressing student's views on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenuedebate.
They could push for the Diversity and Multicultural AffairsCommittee plan that would allow more courses to fulfill the globalstudies portion of the core curriculum. The proposal would makeAsian-American, African-American and Women's Studies courses counttoward the requirement.
They could prove to students with actions -- not words -- thatSGA matters.
Last year, the Manship Slate called the Daily News the"voice of the students."
We hope they're listening.
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