Having in the past been a member of the Student Union Elections Commission and having resigned due to ineffective Commission leadership, I continue to follow closely the actions of our student government. Recent childish behavior by the Tribunal, along with their troubling adherence to unnecessary guidelines and regulations, serves as an example of actions that impede the efforts of Union members to rectify problems faced by Boston University students. Things haven’t changed, but they can.
Union members work hard; their efforts are not always successful, but we have seen some important changes on campus. We have seen initiatives that have impacted dorm life including a change in the guest policy and a continuing project to bring cable to residence halls; we have seen the creation of BIG, the Boston Intercollegiate Government that will bring together Boston-area college and university governments to work more effectively for both members’ own campuses and the city’s college community as a whole; we will see a long list of projects put forth by the incoming Executive Board.
I recognize that student governments cannot achieve all of the goals they set, even those that seem most attainable. I also recognize that the pursuit of these goals is hampered by an unflinching commitment to bureaucracy and protocol. The Union Tribunal should be embarassed that the students they represent and for whom they work have to read about such petty behavior as walking out of a Senate meeting (and debating whether that meeting actually took place once they were gone) that hinders the actions of the Union.
Members of the Tribunal must be conscious of whether their actions are helpful to the mission of the Union and its bodies. That is not to suggest that they turn their backs and allow the Union to operate unchecked; instead, it is a recommendation that the Tribunal consult both the Union constitution and the unwritten constitution of common sense that helps us to act selflessly and effectively. Winston Churchill, when corrected for ending a sentence with a preposition, replied, “This is the type of nonsense up with I will not put.” Remember this. Let Carl Woog, the Executive Board, and the Senate do their jobs with the absolute minimum of unnecessary interference, rules, and distractions. No frivolous bureaucracy or petty behavior, please – just work for the students.
Matthew Tabor CAS ’04
*I can be contacted via e-mail or phone at 617.872.4589.
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