If the Daily Free Press editorial board were writing about the U.S. Congress, I would agree with it completely. However, Tuesday’s staff editorial, “Jon Marker’s Union,” (Jan. 24, p. 8) seems to confuse student government with actual government. It dwells on rules and regulations that, in the minds of the Executive Board and many members of the General Assembly, are inadequate for judging the operation of government. Forcing the president and his government to lay dormant over the summer, making it unable to effect good programming at the beginning of the school year, would only serve to cripple the Union from the beginning instead of doing what it is supposed to do: serve the students of the university.
The Daily Free Press editorial board also seems to be short-sighted in its prescription for a good student government; instead of looking forward to fixing the problems with the constitution and operations of the Student Union, which the General Assembly rightly chose to do last night, all it can seem to offer is its backward-looking, continuous vendetta against the president. The Daily Free Press’s view in this way is short-sighted; choosing to focus on politics and intrigue instead of appreciating the true purpose of student government: advocating for student interests and developing new and innovative programming. Given the inadequacy of the constitution to deal with the necessity of working over the summer, the president did what he had to do in order to continue the work his office requires of him. This is not a scandal of government kickbacks or anything we see in real government; it’s simply the Union trying to do its job by putting together an excellent program for the BU community. We must not treat student government as we would real government if we ever hope to accomplish anything positive. I can only hope that reason and the good will of members of the Student Union will win out over the backward-looking view of The Daily Free Press.
David J. Sideman CAS ’06
The writer was the second candidate for Union secretary discussed by the Union at Monday’s meeting.