I just want to say one thing: talk is cheap. What Ohio University Student Senate needs is not more speeches, not more grandstanding, not more photo opportunities, but plain and simple action. Hard work. Getting down in the trenches and fighting for real, substantive change. But too often during Student Senate elections, people go for whoever is the loudest voice out there. They vote for the face of dissent. The problem is that we don't need more faces, because change requires more than a face, a cheap smile and a bag of rhetoric. It requires a body ' and oh yeah, a mind.
I ask the students to do one thing before they cast their votes for Student Senate on May 15: Judge the people running not just by what they promise to do, but by what they have already done. History is our only useful judge in determining the veracity of a person's commitments. So let's take a quick look at history.
Because of the work of Michael Adeyanju, the people on his ticket AAA, and his supporters, all international students now have free transportation to the Columbus airport; ALL the recommendations of the Student General Fee Governance Council were accepted; the College of Education will next year see its first ever honors track; Spring of 2008 saw an amazing Take Back the Night; RAs are likely to see their compensation increase. And there is so much more.
Will Klatt, on the other hand, talks a good game, and I am sure, is sincerely committed to the cause, but the simple fact of the matter is that in the three years that he has been here, he has changed not a single thing at this university (do note that the presidential confidence vote was not even his doing). Yeah, he's held protests. But that's about it. Now, as an activist myself, I have been a part of many protests and I appreciate their value, considerably. But I also realize that being an activist requires ' oh I don't know ' action. If you don't use the protests to actually enact change and aren't willing to draft policies, sit down with constituent heads, and endure hours of committee meetings, all you are doing is yelling. The simple truth is this: if Klatt has not already made a difference, he's not going to.
I think it's important to note that AAA is talking about holding not only the administration but also themselves accountable. AAA will give you the chance to directly evaluate their performance each quarter, and will sit down with you in dialogue every quarter to hear your voice. While seeking to build credibility and instituting the same vigorous lobbying tactics that won us general fee oversight, Michael will look into adding a paid advocacy position for a current student to the President's Office and voting rights to the Student Trustee in his or her second term of office.
As a longtime student activist in the Athens community, I endorse Michael Adeyanju, Sally Neidhard and the entire ticket of AAA. If you want to see this campus be more environmentally friendly and sustainable, if you believe that change requires more than talk, if you want real shared governance, if you voted for my ticket Pulse last year, vote AAA.
Patrick David Heery is classics and English major. He was a candidate for Student Senate president last year.
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Letter to the Editor
