and it is in this spirit that I will address Ms. Greiner's own lack of information.
Thursday's Post featured a letter by Karen Greiner that criticized Graduate Student Senate (GSS) for alleged passivity and extolled the virtues of being loud. While I take issue with many of her statements, I agree that the role of Graduate Student Senate (is) to not only comment on a lack of information but to also address it and it is in this spirit that I will address Ms. Greiner's own lack of information.
While GSS did implement a business casual dress code for our general body meetings, citing this as an example of our organization's priorities is entirely inaccurate. This ill-informed assertion calls into question whether Ms. Greiner actually reads the newspaper she is using as her medium.
Contrary to her suggestions, our administration has vocally challenged the continued marginalization of graduate education (Graduate Student Senate Opposes Budget Cuts Nov. 9, 2009). Moreover, we obtained inclusion for graduate contract employees in the president's raise pool for university staff. We've assisted with the funding of graduate student initiatives such as the Fourth Annual History of Graduate Student Association Conference (Senate Provides Conference Funds ...
Jan. 12), co-sponsored an open-forum questioning the over-prioritization of Athletics (Forum Prompts Exploration of Athletics ..., March 1) and we are currently fighting for an increase in the general fee buy-down for graduate students (Budget Resolution Seeks Continued Financial Relief
Feb. 9).
Other examples of what GSS does can be found in the achievements of our members. International Affairs Commissioner Animesh Rathore collaborated with the International Student Union and other campus organizations to coordinate the Rally for Haiti, which earned roughly $2,000 for relief efforts. Addressing the Concerns of the Underrepresented Student, a panel discussion on the experiences of minority students at Ohio University, will take place on April 29 at 6 p.m. in Walter Hall and has been made possible by the tireless efforts of our African American Affairs Commissioner James Archibald. Furthermore, the efforts of LGBT Commissioner David Nichols and commission member Molly Yanity have helped GSS confront Ohio University's failure to uphold its Domestic Partners policies with regard to the graduate community (Grad Students Challenge OU's Domestic Partner Policy
April 5). The dedication of these and other GSS members is ignored in the author's poorly researched letter.
Having spoken to Ms. Greiner's lack of information, I would like to propose to her a course of action: Help us improve the graduate experience through combined and positive efforts, not by arm-chair critiquing in a public forum. We invite all graduate students to learn more about our initiatives by contacting us at gss@ohiou.edu, visiting our Web site at www.ohiou.edu/gss/, visiting our office in 302 Baker University Center or by attending our next meeting on April 20 at 7 p.m. in Walter Hall, 235.
Tracy Kelly is president of Graduate Student Senate.
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Opinion
