2008 Woodie Awards
Student petitions for contested race
Brendan Block
Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: Forum
After coming from a high school that had a very active student government, I wanted to be active in student government at Southwest Baptist University to try to make the school a better place and voice my opinions. Now, in the middle of winter, I find that even though our Student Government Association is doing many things right, there is a lot of room for improvement. Opinions are not being heard because, too often, students fail to come voice them at meetings.
To couple that, only faint interest has been shown in students wanting to hold executive office. Currently, there are no junior class executive officers including class president, vice president or treasurer, among other classes that have void executive positions. As a school that shows so much passion for missions and Biblical doctrine, how come we do not care to make a difference in how this school is run and try to change it if we are dissatisfied with some policies and procedures?
Here is the chance for SBU students to make a difference. For three of the past four years, we have had uncontested races for student body president. With an election to be announced in April, it would be great to see a contested race with students who will change student government for the better.
Current President, senior Laura Towner, expressed the reliance on student involvement in SGA in order for it to be effective when she said, "[SGA] can change policies or fix policies, even though it is difficult sometimes, we can try to do something about it. But we need more student support."
As it currently stands, for student government to wield the power it is supposed to possess, there must be more students who are willing to participate and support it.
In comparison to Drury University, SBU seems to be a little bit behind. Although they have a similar membership, positions are rife with competition.
The university also has a budgeting group whose specific job is to decide how funds should best be spent. Other interesting aspects are their retreats that all representatives attend and, most importantly, a forum they set up once a semester where students come and voice their opinions on school issues.
To couple that, only faint interest has been shown in students wanting to hold executive office. Currently, there are no junior class executive officers including class president, vice president or treasurer, among other classes that have void executive positions. As a school that shows so much passion for missions and Biblical doctrine, how come we do not care to make a difference in how this school is run and try to change it if we are dissatisfied with some policies and procedures?
Here is the chance for SBU students to make a difference. For three of the past four years, we have had uncontested races for student body president. With an election to be announced in April, it would be great to see a contested race with students who will change student government for the better.
Current President, senior Laura Towner, expressed the reliance on student involvement in SGA in order for it to be effective when she said, "[SGA] can change policies or fix policies, even though it is difficult sometimes, we can try to do something about it. But we need more student support."
As it currently stands, for student government to wield the power it is supposed to possess, there must be more students who are willing to participate and support it.
In comparison to Drury University, SBU seems to be a little bit behind. Although they have a similar membership, positions are rife with competition.
The university also has a budgeting group whose specific job is to decide how funds should best be spent. Other interesting aspects are their retreats that all representatives attend and, most importantly, a forum they set up once a semester where students come and voice their opinions on school issues.
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