How well do you know your Texas Tech Student Government Association senator?
In just more than three months, your SGA senator either will be running for office again or will be replaced by another student. While The Daily Toreador always publishes a story the day after a Student Senate meeting, students can’t truly know how senators are representing them without attending the meetings. Seeing how vocal the senator is, how much legislation they introduce and what legislation they are supporting are some of the benefits that can be gained from attending the meetings.
Despite this, the students being represented are completely absent from every Student Senate meeting, which are open to all. SGA President Suzanne Williams told me several ways the association can affect students: in the transportation system on campus, recycling programs, budget and allocations for organizations, RaiderGate, student fees, scholarships, and other wants and needs of students, such as the Student Leisure Pool.
I’m sure not every student cares about each of those issues, but I believe each student has an opinion about at least one of them — either in favor or against the issue. By not attending the meetings, students will not know the pros and cons of the issues and thus will not be able to tell their senator how to best represent them. It is the job of the SGA senators to take care of the students and convey the student body’s wishes to the rest of the association.
Student Organization Representative Council also is a way for students to become involved in the SGA. The council gives them a way to be more vocal without having to adhere to rules of the Student Senate meetings, but also does not replace debates during meetings.
Last year, during the debate about whether the SGA should support a fall break for students, it was difficult to determine at times whether it was the wishes of the students and organizations being represented or if it was the wishes of the senators and the organizations to which they belonged. Especially during this debate, I wish students would have been present to tell their senators before or after the meeting how they felt about the issue instead of hearing the next day about the resolution that was passed.
Williams also told me about a new program called Step Up or Step Down, which is a way the SGA began internally reviewing senators who may not be adequately performing their duties. This program is a step in the right direction to prevent serving senators who do not care about their job, but students also must be vigilant in making sure they don’t elect those senators in the first place.
In local, state and federal government, it is much more difficult to remove an elected official from office. This is why it is so important to begin caring about who you elect (or in some cases, who is elected for you) at an early time.
Those main issues on which the SGA makes decisions do not go into effect as soon as the association votes on them — they are passed to the Tech administration and reviewed, at which time the administration can take action. Williams said the Tech administration takes everything the SGA passes seriously because they are considered the voice of the students.
However, if a student senator is voted into office because he or she was the best at recruiting friends or fellow organization members to vote for them, how well do they truly represent the Tech student body? And in that case, how well do the resolutions passed in the Student Senate represent the Tech student body?
I know from attending Student Senate meetings that several senators care deeply about the students they represent and work hard to represent them correctly. I also have seen some who seemingly do not care much about what happens after they can put the title “Senator” on their resume.
By going to the meetings, students can keep these senators accountable and show their like or dislike for the senators on the ballot. Don’t allow the SGA election in the spring semester to be a popularity contest. Instead, be proactive in determining for whom to vote. Attend the meetings at 7 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of every month in the Senate Room at the Student Union Building.
Don’t let feelings of apathy about government become a habit while in college, because they most certainly will carry into life after college and make everything true what is being said about the younger generations: We just don’t care.
