Ohio University's Student Senate went on a team-building leadership exercise this past weekend.
Funded by the divisions of Student Affairs and University Advancement, the senators traveled to Burr Oak, a resort park in Glouster, Ohio. They spent their two-day retreat reviewing the bureaucratic details of senate procedure, such as the tools for writing a resolution and the rules for debating ' stuff that every senator needs to know.
And they spent $2,000 to accomplish something that could have easily been done over a half-dozen pizzas at Baker University Center or hot dogs at a senator's off-campus house ' in other words, that could have been done at no cost to the university. Each senator could have kicked in a few dollars to buy food, and they could have played cornhole, Madden and Scrabble to bond.
That's what fiscally responsible student organizations do.
Unfortunately, even fiscally responsible student organizations on campus struggle to pay for events that are open to every OU student. The Student Activities Commission has to work with a tiny budget, and few groups seem to get all the money they need to put on programs at the university.
That makes the senate's wasteful behavior even more egregious. Student Affairs and University Advancement could have put their money toward a worthier cause ' and the senate could have been respectful enough to refuse to put the burden of its little party on university shoulders.
It's maddening, but such is the way of life here at OU. And as these senators are the next generation of bureaucratic leaders, it's probably not going to change. Unless, that is, the senators are willing to change for the good of their peers. Now is the time to start putting the ideals of student government into practice ' before Student Senate is completely bogged down in the usual cycle of mind-numbing mediocrity and frivolous finances.
-
17 Archives
Student Senate fails to serve as G
