Dear Campus,
I would like to devote this biweekly column to the discussion ofa few issues that I believe all students need to know concerningBall State and the local community. I would like to further discusshow many of the decisions made don't involve any student inputwhatsoever, and what we can do to change the administration'soutlook on student apathy.
Last year I had the opportunity to serve you, the students, inthe capacity of SGA President. It was a great and humblingexperience in which I learned a great deal about our campus and ourcommunity. But it wasn't enough. Not for me...and certainly not foryou.
The Student Government Association at Ball State needs a majoroverhaul. Students need a louder voice. I've said it time and timeagain. Now, I'm not suggesting that the student body should controlthe decisions at Ball State, but as tuition continues to increase,faculty salaries continue to remain relatively stagnant, and thenumber of administrators continues to grow, I believe studentsshould have some say on what happens at this institution.
My feelings on this subject run pretty deep and I truly hopethat Mr. Tietz can understand where I am coming from on this issuebefore his term ends. SGA is supposedly the voice of the studentbody, but in actuality it is controlled by the administration. Withthe exception of the work I completed in rewriting the UniversitySenate Constitution, I can honestly say that my term as Presidentwas pretty worthless. Not because we didn't try...but because weweren't allowed.
We tried to change the way the transportation department handlesthe on-campus shuttles, we tried to voice our concerns about losingour track team, we tried to help Mayor Dan Canan bridge the gapbetween the university and the city, we tried to set up a concertfund so Ball State could bring bands like Dave Matthews or theCounting Crows to campus, we tried to increase the funding from theUniversity for the University Program Board so we could have more"alcohol-free programming" alternatives, we tried to get outdoorbasketball courts on campus, we tried to reformat the way thedining program works (Why do students still lose their money ifthey don't swipe...and where does that money go?), we tried to getmore funding for the public safety department so they could haveaccess to better equipment and could provide betterstudent-department relations, we tried to reopen the Brackencomputer lab to 24 hours so that students could have access to astudy-friendly late night atmosphere and lastly we tried to get anATM in the Atrium.
Unfortunately, I'm here to report that very few of the abovementioned items have made significant progress. Although some minorimprovements have been made involving a few of these issues, myargument still stands that there is much work to be done beforestudents are actually getting the quality representation theydeserve.
In my upcoming columns I will be discussing each of these issuesin detail. I will be posing questions to members of theadministration in hopes that they can provide answers that havebeen avoided or ignored in the past.
Now that I'm outside of SGA, and out from under the umbrella ofthe administrative influence, maybe you and I can work together...and make a real difference.
Check back on Monday, September 13th for my take on changes thatneed to be made within SGA.
Sincerely,
Jayson Manship
Write to Jayson at
jamanship@bsu.edu
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