Student government requires participation
Ryan Becker
senior
Student government at Notre Dame has made an impact on students' lives, and continues to do so on a daily basis in countless ways that aren't publicized. Student government can make a broader impact on campus, but it can't do it alone.
When you DARTed online last semester, a much better alternative to the old system students had to suffer through, that was the product of years of collaboration between members of the student government and the Registrar's office. So many students complained about the old system that student leaders had a very strong base to argue for change and change occurred. In that case, student government had an impact on students' lives.
When you walk into Grab N' Go, one of the dining halls or the Huddle and see new items and sensible changes or look online to see the nutrition content of the food served, that is through the efforts of student government working with Food Services and voicing the suggestions they have heard on the Quad, in their dorms or at class. In that case, student government has had an impact.
When a student group or a programming idea does not get all of the funding they absolutely need in order to make sure that an event happens, they can come to the Student Senate during the budgeting process and ask the senate to appropriate the funds needed. This happened last year with the mid-semester transfer orientation program that was not given the necessary funding to pull off their event.
The senate made sure that the funding was provided, and then took steps to ensure that such a gap in funding did not occur again. I'm sure there are a number of transfer students who benefited from that orientation and student government helped make that possible. In that case, student government has had an impact.
In many ways, being a student leader is a thankless job. There is no pay, no scholarship, a huge time commitment and a ton of meetings. Many of those meetings are with faculty or administrators who act as if your concerns are trivial and make you feel as if what you are doing has no point.
We go to the administration with calls for greater student participation in University governance. We do it multiple times every year. We submit proposals for a student on the Board of Trustees and seek student representation in ResLife hearings. When those requests are denied, we don't send a press release to The Observer saying that the University shut the door in our face.
Instead, we go back to work preparing for the next chance we get to argue our case by building support for the cause, seeing where our arguments aren't as strong as they could be and figuring out which approach offers the best chance of making sure the voices of the students are heard and acknowledged. We work hard because there is always a chance that the next meeting will be with an administrator who believes in what we are doing and will help make positive change a reality.
It's easy to sit in a dorm room on your computer and fire off an article that says that student government is a joke or look at a campaign poster and claim that it doesn't matter who gets elected because they are only in it for their own glory. Anybody can do that. But that will not change anything. Student government will not be able to be more active on this campus until more students get involved. That is how things will change.
So, instead of writing off this election and claiming that student government is useless, I challenge our student body to get involved. Run for office. Go to the town hall meetings. Go to a Student Senate meeting and make your voice heard. There are lots of ways to get involved, and the door to the student government office on the second floor in LaFortune is always open. I know for a fact that Brooke Norton and the rest of the students working up there would love the help.
Student government can make a difference, but can't do it alone.
Editor's note: Ryan Becker is a former senator from Zahm Hall who ran for student body president last year.
Ryan Becker
senior
Zahm Hall
Feb. 5, 2002
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, February 6, 2002
