I have a strange compulsion.
Every night, I stay up late enough to read the next day's Daily News. I guess I feel that as President of Student Government Association, I should be acutely aware of everything going on around campus. I also like to see what the newspaper has to say about specific projects SGA is working on.
Early Tuesday morning, I was surprised by how much the Daily News missed the point with a story about one of the best things SGA has done for students in a while.
In Tuesday's issue, the Daily News reported on the Muncie Indiana Transit System's institution of a campus shuttle loop and accurately elaborated on the location and the university's lack of willingness to supply funding.
What the newspaper missed, however, was one of many times throughout the course of this year Team Us has come through on yet another platform promise to the student body.
I'm writing this little chronology to get the real history of the new bus route out to the students and for a couple other reasons.
First, in a recent staff editorial, the Daily News was critical of Team Us for not accomplishing enough, and Tuesday's story said nothing of the time and hard work numerous SGA officials put in to get this project rolling. Second, I am tired of hearing the sentiment that SGA never gets anything done.
In October of 2004, when my presidential slate - Team Us - was preparing its platform, we included the creation of an east-west shuttle route to service students living in the Studebaker residence hall complexes as well as the neighborhoods east of campus. When we took office in March, it was one of our highest policy priorities.
As part of a summer internship for Mayor Dan Canan, I proposed an early version of the loop to MITS General Manager Larry King. He and his staff were excited to proceed, but wanted Ball State University to enter into an equal partnership. The partnership never materialized, leaving SGA to either come up with $25,000 or some new ideas.
Fast forward to the second meeting of the Mayor's Commission for Ball State Student Relations this year. The commission wanted to give students some transportation options to help with the new parking enforcement in the neighborhoods east of campus.
King brought the commission several excerpts from my summer proposal, as well as SGA's suggested route. King also arranged for SGA executives to pitch a condensed version of the plan to a special meeting of the MITS Board of Directors.
The board voted unanimously to institute the route.
Here is a perfect example of your student leaders working incredibly hard to bring a service to campus and turning a platform promise into a reality.
So I implore you, Daily News, to keep being critical - it's your job. But when something does go right, try to give a little credit where credit is due.
And to students, enjoy the MITS Trolley that will be picking you up on the loop during the cold months ahead!
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