STAFF EDIT: Renew BU lives up to its name

There is no doubt that the Boston University students behind BUnited &- one of Student Union’s two registered contenders for next year’s Executive Board &- are qualified for the position. They are deep-seated in the organization, firmly established with administrators and beyond articulate.

But they are not what this university needs.

Arthur Emma, Daniel Ellis and Ben Noble are Renew BU, and they are a little rough around the edges. Their slate for election is incomplete. They have already been penalized by the Student Elections Committee for guerilla sidewalk graffiti campaign tactics. And some of their platforms, like pleading for more common room space in West Campus, seem oddly specific and unimportant. But the slate’s overarching plan for BU &- to connect students outside of Union to those within the organization &- is one that deserves attention, which is the reason The Daily Free Press is endorsing Renew BU.

Ideally, the group’s “let’s put the students first again” mantra will hold water and serve as a platform from which to address student concerns with the university administration rather than withering under the weight of intimidation or compromise. The Free Press hopes Renew BU will represent students respectfully to BU high heads, but with firm, unyielding conviction.

There is no need for needless combative politicking, but the group promises to stand alongside the student population, always. BUnited cannot seem to make that leap, and seems more invested in whether the seats on which deans and higher-ups sit are fluffed and comfortable. Stirring up tsunamis should not be the standard political motive by any means, but BUnited seems willing to make nary a wake at BU, and, in a meeting with The Free Press went so far as to dismiss annual tuition hikes, an issue in the fore of every student’s mind, as something that is “going to happen” but that they “might consider looking into.”

Renew BU has said that a school without representation is lost, and that disconnect between students and administrators is something that needs to be immediately addressed and eradicated. For this reason, the idea that Renew BU is not as experienced or well-versed in Union tactics and legislation as the members of BUnited should not be a worry. Moreover, given Union’s current state of ineffective bureaucracy and inability to break through red tape, Renew BU’s basic ideas seem revolutionary. The group told The Free Press it plans on updating students regularly of its progress through blog posts, Twitter updates and &- of all ideas &- a table in the George Sherman Union Link.

While putting a face to an organization in a place that students frequent seems like common sense, it is something Union’s current board has not done this year, or in recent history. How familiar a name is James Sappenfield to a given BU student? Mary Gameng? Mikhahl Makalski? Julianne Corbin? The four members of the group’s current E-board could be moving mountains, but if no student knows who they are, then they are essentially nothing, and they are not doing their jobs. Students cannot possibly expect to trust people who have not gone beyond standard practices to identify themselves or their goals.

Renew BU hit the nail on the head when it alluded to the fact that Union is too involved in its own processes. BUnited, too, has plans about shaking things up within the organization, but is still too worried about keeping the fundamentals of the stalled group the same and its agenda intact. Should Renew BU be elected, it should certainly not aim to turn the organization on its head &- as that is a mistake that will only lead to needless distraction &- but it needs to quickly address the organization’s inherent idealistic flaws, change them, and get to work.

And change is one thing The Free Press is confident the slate can accomplish. Renew BU’s slate has been in the works for months and Emma, the candidate for president, would not campaign until he found a group that he was confident would work cohesively. Renew BU’s website is clear and clean, its members are smart and amiable and even though there are only three of them, they seem to always be in plain sight with that “print quota” sign no matter where a student stands on campus.

If Renew BU wants to succeed as Union’s heads, it needs to put the stuff of its own agenda on the backburner and focus on its most significant aim &- to make the group relevant, and to use Union’s influence to represent students unconditionally. But if it can manage to catch up to speed on the necessary evils of collegiate politics, The Free Press is confident the slate can take the university government to new places, away from the stuff of self-awareness. Union is not about making Union great, it is about being an effective liaison and one on which students can rely. It needs to go back to being the voice of BU.