2008 Woodie Awards
Our View: Proposed changes to Co-Op unwarranted
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Opinion
Score one for logic.
The members of the Student Government Association Senate voted by a 21-13 margin Thursday, falling just two votes short of approving an amendment to the SGA Constitution that would have changed the way faculty members are appointed to the Cooperative Activities Board. The controversial amendment needed a two-thirds majority to pass.
The Cooperative Activities Board is responsible for the allocation of well over $1 million to more than 70 of SRU's student clubs and organizations. The money for these programs comes from the General Service Fee that's charged to all students.
Under the proposed amendment, APSCUF members would have elected four faculty candidates for the Co-Op board of directors, who would have chosen two of the four to serve a two-year term. Currently, among the four elected faculty, the top two vote-getters become members of the Co-Op board.
The main problem with SGA's proposed amendment was the motivation behind it, or more specifically, the fact that none existed. Even when given multiple opportunities at Tuesday's open forum to explain why the amendment was needed, President Larry Brink and Vice President of Financial Affairs Michael Combs offered no reasoning other than their baseless belief that students are in a better position to determine faculty representation than the faculty themselves.
Members of the SGA Executive Board have also said that no riff exists between the faculty members and students on the Co-Op board, which makes their desire to change a system with no glaring flaws all the more perplexing.
While "giving the power to the students" has been SGA's only reason for wanting to change the system, in reality, it seems like nothing more than some sort of rallying cry to inspire the less-than-informed on the actual matter at hand. In actuality, even if the amendment had passed, faculty members would have maintained the same four of 15 Co-Op board votes that they do now.
The members of the Student Government Association Senate voted by a 21-13 margin Thursday, falling just two votes short of approving an amendment to the SGA Constitution that would have changed the way faculty members are appointed to the Cooperative Activities Board. The controversial amendment needed a two-thirds majority to pass.
The Cooperative Activities Board is responsible for the allocation of well over $1 million to more than 70 of SRU's student clubs and organizations. The money for these programs comes from the General Service Fee that's charged to all students.
Under the proposed amendment, APSCUF members would have elected four faculty candidates for the Co-Op board of directors, who would have chosen two of the four to serve a two-year term. Currently, among the four elected faculty, the top two vote-getters become members of the Co-Op board.
The main problem with SGA's proposed amendment was the motivation behind it, or more specifically, the fact that none existed. Even when given multiple opportunities at Tuesday's open forum to explain why the amendment was needed, President Larry Brink and Vice President of Financial Affairs Michael Combs offered no reasoning other than their baseless belief that students are in a better position to determine faculty representation than the faculty themselves.
Members of the SGA Executive Board have also said that no riff exists between the faculty members and students on the Co-Op board, which makes their desire to change a system with no glaring flaws all the more perplexing.
While "giving the power to the students" has been SGA's only reason for wanting to change the system, in reality, it seems like nothing more than some sort of rallying cry to inspire the less-than-informed on the actual matter at hand. In actuality, even if the amendment had passed, faculty members would have maintained the same four of 15 Co-Op board votes that they do now.
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