LETTER: SMG gov’t acted responsibly

I am writing in response to Thursday’s article (‘SMG gov’t cancels its yearly gala,’ Feb. 5). I am disappointed both by the apparent absence of facts and by the deliberately sensational tone the article strikes.

The article opens by stating that ‘School of Management Student Government officers disputed accusations of money mismanagement on Wednesday,’ yet never lays out who is making these accusations, when they were made or in what context they were made. This alleged ‘mismanagement’ was the first time I, as well as SMG Student Government President Matt Reville and my colleague Liz Katz, who also serves as the SMG Undergraduate Program Office’s Advisor to Student Government, had ever heard of such a thing. The article closes with a quote from a fellow student who has no apparent expertise or special knowledge qualifying her to comment or pass judgment on the situation.

Matt Reville and his fellow student leaders in SMG Student Government have recently learned that they may face a considerable reduction in their allocation from the Student Activities Office. In light of the current economic circumstances faced by our university and society at large, this is understandable and not unexpected. They were also told that they would not be allowed to run a deficit – again, this is understandable and prudent. Faced with this revised fiscal scenario, our student government has had to prioritize their funding commitments for the remainder of the academic year, and they decided that they would rather not allocate such a great proportion of their remaining resources on one event. The true irony is that for our student government to press ahead with all of their spending plans after having their allocation reduced would have been a real case of ‘money mismanagement.’ The students who make up SMG Student Government are simply trying to live within their means and not leave next year’s student government in debt. I applaud our student leaders and Ms. Katz for staying on top of the situation and continuing their hard work on behalf of our school community.

Norm Blanchard

Director, SMG Undergraduate Program ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

Office