Correction appended.
Ohio University Student Senate is a sham.
American democracy has spoiled us rotten; our blessed country has checks and balances out the wazoo and we expect everything else to work as interconnected and efficient.
But just because Ohio University is in America does not mean it is America. OU has neither checks nor balances. Upon a mighty throne slumps OU President Rowdy Roddy McDavis while Executive Vice President and Provost Krendl whispers instructions in his ear.
Gaining an audience with the royal court is impossible for any normal student. But with Student Senate elections this Thursday, we get to pretend that students know a thing or two about how this university should be run.
Problem is, I usually side with the administration's apathy toward student opinions. Students are here for only a few years, so how could they possibly understand long-term goals like the conveniently lengthy Five-Year Vision Ohio Implementation Plan? Students see only insignificant parts of Ohio University, like the education, so what do we know?
We know friends who are sitting on the couch instead of running track this season. We know dudes with 4.0 GPAs who were kicked out of school because they like to unwind with a drink or two on the weekend. We know this place can be better and we have only a few short years to help future Bobcats make the same mistakes and learn the same lessons.
Student Senate can yell about injustice until it is blue in the face, but its powerless resolutions aren't worth the paper they're printed on. With only symbolic voting power, Student Senate has as much sway as a Democrat in Texas.
What has Student Senate done so far this year? The senators sat alone in their offices most of the time, 400 cumulative hours a week, waiting for their constituents' input. I expected to see a little more action after the 78 percent vote of no confidence last year.
Union workers were fired this year to make room for more administrators ' exemplifying students' frustration with the already bloated group. Again, Student Senate complained to no avail.
Presidential candidate Will Klatt was the voice of protest in these dark times when so few chose to speak up. With Students for a Democratic Society by his side, Klatt has been the moral compass of this campus.
When our sports were cut, Klatt was there for us even though he plays no sport of his own. As we were subjected to strict social policies that have nothing to do with education, Klatt has been the only one to question the validity of those policies.
Now Fortress Cutler is no longer immune to the shouts and cries of the oppressed. The iron is hot and it is time to strike.
It is time to combine Klatt's ingenuity with the authority and legitimacy of Student Senate. It is time to put some pressure on an administration that is more concerned with their image than their true educational purpose. It is time we returned to the protesting legacy of our Bobcat forefathers.
It is time for the champion of the students, Will Klatt.
Because we might not be able to give Student Senate any real power, but we can give it the strongest voice on campus.
Chris Yonker is a senior journalism major. Send him an e-mail at cy129904@ohiou.edu.
Correction: The original version included this line: And when the administration tried to crack down on Klatt's protests
hedrafted a new free speech policy that the university just implemented. This is false; Klatt did not write the recently implemented policy.
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