Be The Student Voice

As per usual, the Student Union is plagued with difficulties. As per usual, it’s not entirely the Union’s fault. While this year’s Union has been far from effective or even present, keep in mind the difficulty of their job and the incredible apathy of their constituency. That aside, we must remember that their job, first and foremost on this campus, is to be our leaders, our representatives, our voice not only to the administration, but to the public, as well. When our Union fails, it’s not only they who fail, it’s the entire student body who fails. When the Union loses hope and respect, we, the students, lose our voice.

The resignation of Mike Moffo is not the greatest tragedy here. Nor should he be viewed as a hero for his inability to balance his studies with his lackadaisical job as president of the Union. Many of the ideas and issues Mr. Moffo planned to get accomplished this year not only failed, but were not even tried. His withdrawal from the debate around the sexual orientation clause based on the “overly aggressive” work of Spectrum last year was nauseating and cowardly. He claimed we needed a new initiative and new leadership. I believe that is what his job as our president was for. He was supposed to lead us and guide us through that, as he promised in his Real Campaign last year. His BUnited campaign did nothing but provide buttons to some and busses for even fewer. His intercollegiate consortium was a fine idea, but he failed to remember his job first is here, not amongst other universities. The guest policy is still a crucial problem with little being done (an AdHoc committee that he planned to create on Residence Life was never created). We still have a crumbling College of Fine Arts, freshman room selection issues, teaching assistants who don’t speak English and even a cable TV issue. Nothing has been done in these areas.

That aside, we have a new semester and a relatively new administration in our midst. Perhaps Mr. Coseglia should remember that “Real” was supposedly not about words, but about action. So far, all I’ve seen is few words and no action. The Real Deal he laid out in Monday’s Daily Free Press (“The Real Deal … recharged”) said nothing about HOW he was going to do anything, but restated some of the things that are wrong and right with the University. Well, Zach, how do you plan on fixing them? How do you plan on eliminating all this petty infighting and getting some of these initiatives accomplished? Mr. Coseglia should remember that this is student government; no stakes are too high to take risks on. Perhaps he will have the courage and guidance to lead us through these times of complete and utter failure. The Union is not another form of the administration, and while cooperation is essential, it should not be granted at the dismissal of necessary and justified student initiatives just because the administration does not want to hear it. Represent us, speak for us and work for us. Take risks; they will not expel you or even hurt you. As important as Jon Westling may seem, he is not J. Edgar Hoover, and there is no conspiracy to oust our Union simply because they work for the students.

Additionally, the students have a responsibility here. The Union are our leaders, but if we do not support them, their leadership is worthless. We as a student body need to voice our support, demonstrate our desires and fight for our beliefs. No one is asking for the 1960s to be relived; we have our own issues to deal with. If the students want the guest policy changed, they are going to need to be a constant and present voice. If we want to change our sexual orientation clause, we will need to scream as loud as we can. The first and foremost way in doing this is actually voting in the Union elections. From there, we can let the Union guide us through initiatives, as our leaders, to accomplish what can convert this University from mediocre to excellent.