STAFF EDIT: Foundation is there, build now

It’s been another semester of laying the groundwork for the Student Union. After a full year of recovery last year from the disaster of the 2000-2001 school year, this year’s Union, though having some successes in its own right, has continued to lay more groundwork. For the second semester, the Union must build on its now solid foundation and focus on improving one major student concern. It must employ the same tactics last year’s Union parlayed into Guest Policy success, focusing the student body’s unified energy on one issue with exhaustive research and professional conduct. This year’s Union must create its own legacy, and with a semester foundation strengthening out of the way, it has set itself up well.

First and foremost, Union officials, and Union President Ethan Clay especially, deserve a great deal of credit for finally pressuring administrators to make Guest Policy change. Though the bulk of the effort on the project was done last year, by both Clay and former Union President Zachary Coseglia, this year’s Union deserves credit for following through and sustaining the effort through a change in BU’s presidency. Earning a seat at the table for selection of a new BU president is another Clay success. And Clay has done a great job of opening his ears to the concerns of everyday students, hosting weekly dinners at the George Sherman Union and making his face well-known throughout the university. He has truly made himself the well-known face of the Union, a task at which other Union presidents have failed.

The Union E-board as a whole also had a relatively productive semester, doing well at improving its availability to the greater student body. E-board members in general have taken great strides toward better publicizing the Union and making themselves more available to students. Through a much-improved website and monthly emails, Union news and schedules are now easier to access. They continued the success of last year’s Dean’s Luncheon, safety walk and BUnited bus lines. And they did not allow former Executive Vice President Vanessa Tebesceff’s resignation bog them down they moved on quickly and effectively. They have readied themselves, and now must use their greater connection to the student body for a big second-semester project.

However, their semester has not been without disappointments. Their reaction to Chancellor John Silber’s elimination of the Boston University Academy Gay-Straight Alliance was weak and untimely. Union officials should have banded together with Spectrum, BU’s gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender group, and supported BU Academy’s students in retaining the group. Instead, their only reaction was a relatively meaningless poster campaign and an extremely late and seemingly unrelated student rally. As leaders of the student body’s central government, it was their responsibility to represent what was clear student disagreement with Silber’s policy. At that, they failed.

By the same token, they should have also used this semester to do more than just strengthen their foundations. The ‘True’ slate is packed with experience, both inside the Union and with other student organizations. But instead of using that success to hit the ground running with big initiatives, Union officials have only continued last year’s work. Rather than putting their own stamp on the Union, they have continued last year’s initiatives.

The Union Senate was unproductive in general. Aside from getting Silber to commit to an appearance at next Tuesday’s Senate meeting, for which Senate Chairman Joel Fajardo deserves credit, the Senate has lacked direction. Senators have spent very little of their $12,000 in allocation money and have created no important independent initiatives. Even Fajardo admits they lack direction and leadership. Their semester started poorly, with illegitimate elections, and has not improved much from there. None of them stuck up for democracy and demanded new elections. Still, next semester they should try to prove that they do deserve their positions. They must attempt to be productive and, at the very least, support the E-board’s initiatives.

Next semester will be an important one for this Union. After a semester of laying the groundwork, it should focus all of its energies on making its own mark. Union officials should pick an issue and, like last year’s Union, make it clear to university administrators that it is an important student concern. There are many issues from which to choose from cable TV policy to BU’s lack of a rape crisis center, students are decidedly not fully content with their BU experiences. The Union must pick an issue, research student opinion fully and create a coherent argument for why BU must change. If Union officials can do so, they can set up next year’s Union for more success and continue to change the general student opinion that the Union is useless and ineffective.

The groundwork has been laid by a year-and-a-half of solid Union activity. But the jury is out on this year’s Union it will be judged on how well it can pick an issue and make a compelling argument for why things at BU must be changed.