An Alumnus Perspective on Student Union

I read the Free Press every few days or so on AvantGo on my Palm Pilot while riding the subway to work. I read it to see if anything interesting is going on back at BU, to find out about any new building projects on the drawing board (a new COM, anyone?), and for the Opinion section. The only observation I have: the same stupid issues come back year after year. This week there has been a continuing story that has kept my attention in that regard.

The slew of articles praising / bashing Mike Moffo is ridiculous. I am not going to claim the ‘superior perspective’ as an alumnus or anything like that, but both sides go too far and make nonsensical arguments. Mr. Moffo, it seems, is an upstanding young man who was just trying to juggle too many responsibilities. The University, enforcing Union policy (in my opinion wisely), decided that his academics must come first. Considering the price tag of his education, I think that if his grades are below what they need to be, that is what he should focus his attention on, anyway.

The backlash of recent articles against student leaders, however, is misplaced. Most are merely trying to get something accomplished within a rather stagnant environment (while adding to the old resume, of course). The administration does not enjoy change; I think we all know that.

I do understand, though, the trigger for these responses: the self-aggrandizing Opinion articles of the previous day. Sometimes student leaders do get a little too into themselves. Zachary Coseglia stated that he does not mean to compare himself to Harry Truman and Abraham Lincoln, but in the very act of mentioning them in such a context he automatically WAS comparing himself to them.

My experience, while a student leader at BU (for BUTV, SMG, and the Admissions Office), was that the Union means well but takes itself too seriously. In an environment where there are so many preset limitations to what it can accomplish the Union is often Politics without the substance, and the times that I had to go begging for resources, it got caught up in Constitutionality and other such arguments. But such is the way of politicians, especially student politicians in an atmosphere where they can affect no real change.

As far as Lorne Lucree’s attack on the “apathetic” student body: BU students trend towards being more jaded than apathetic. They care, they just don’t buy into it any more. SAO is a respectable organization and probably the one that gets the most done. Funding for everything flows through it and it touches most students in some way over the course of their four years. I had to go begging for BUTV funds from SAO as well, and they were far more reasonable than the Union, so I in no way mean disrepect to SAO.

However, I do doubt that “any educated and haldway-invloved student probably knows Mike Moffo.” I was both educated and involved while at BU and had minimal contact with the Union and its members. I agree what happened to him is his business and should not be made a deeper issue, but the original articles to drag this out, as noted were the ones that were praising him. The detracting articles were all written in response to the orignal, overblown ones. By the way: condone means “to overlook, forgive, or disregard (an offense) without protest or censure; to excuse or make allowances for” – Webster’s. I think you may have meant to “commend” Mike Moffo for his efforts.

So parting words to both side: most student Union and other student leaders mean well, they really do. The can’t abolish the guest policy but they affect the University in smaller ways every day with various events, etc. On the other hand, the Union is not the end-all be-all of existence at BU and students not involved with it are not automatically “apathetic.” There are other things to do and other ways to affect BU. Enough with the hype.

Erik Neu SMG/CAS ’99