For the second year in a row, the Student Association’s Senate is reorganizing itself in a supposed attempt to make themselves more accountable to the student body. Committees are gone; their place will be an ad-hoc substitute called “action teams.”
“An action team will be a group that handles a particular issue,” Reggie Greer (COL ’09), former Senate Vice Speaker and current head of the Senate Transition Committee, said. He went on to say that these action teams will comprise both Senators and students who are passionate about that particular issue and that ideas for them will come from students.
These action teams, if used properly, should make the Senate more responsible to its constituents. If a situation arises on campus, then an action team can be created and subsequently dissolved when the situation is resolved.
“We want to talk to friends and neighbors on what they think we should tackle,” he said.
So far, issues mentioned at the first meeting on October 3rd included an expanded wireless network and the alcohol policy. Although these are issues of concern to students, this agenda sounds similar to what the Student Association says they are working on every year and issues on which not much has been accomplished.
The Senate, created last year, replaced the Assembly and was supposed to be more accountable to students than its predecessor.
“Last year was hard,” Greer said. “But you can’t expect an organization to run properly the first year, though.”
But this year, the Senate needs to live up to the ideals under which it was created. Approximately 1,830 students voted in this year’s Senate elections, an increase from last year, according to Student Association Election Commissioner Maura Cassidy (COL ’08).
“The Senate is composed of a lot of people who are eager to take initiative,” Student Association President Ben Shaw (COL ‘08) said. Though Shaw says he has no control over the Senate, he hopes that they will have “shared interests” and that each branch of the Student Association will work together.
If the Senate follows up on its promises of being more accountable and seeking student input, then it might be more successful than the numerous other reorganizations the Student Association has seen.
“We think with the new system and the new dedicated elected Senators, it should be a good year,” Greer said.
New ideas and issues that are more likely to get through the University need to be addressed. As noted by the increase in voting, many would like to see the Senate actually work and produce tangible results.
On a campus where many students eat, sleep, and breathe politics, it is a shame that our student government has been ineffective over the years. Hopefully, this revised Senate will finally be able to deliver the promises made to us year after year.
Check out the Voice blog at blog.georgetownvoice.com for more information on getting in contact with your Senator.
