Daily Texan Resolution 001
Title: Resolution regarding the effort by UT's Student Government (whose campaigns kicked off at midnight) to get students involved and be more transparent to the UT community it is charged with representing. Authors: The editorial board
Section I: The Wherases
WHEREAS SG has more or less become a one-party entity, with the past three elections being largely uncontested; WHEREAS even in contested SG races, such as in 2003 and 2004, one ticket dominates elected seats, making SG less representative of the student body;
WHEREAS the Freshman Leadership Organization, responsible for getting freshmen involved in SG campaigns and training them in campus politics, dictates election outcome and drives single-ticket victories. This SG breeding ground most likely has more sway in SG elections than the student body as a whole, as SG candidates have been known to focus more heavily on vying for the support of these future campus leaders;
WHEREMOSTOF Student Government comprises a network of students who have worked closely together throughout their college years (often starting with the FLO), making it socially difficult for newcomers to penetrate the SG hierarchy or join a ticket without prior experience or networking. In other words, elected student leadership in all facets of the University - SG, student organizations, even the Texas Student Media board - is an incestuous system;
WHEREAS the election of Student Government leaders is meant to uphold students' right to choose who will best represent them to University administration;
WHEREAS financial pressure to print the most shirts and make the most signs often discourages potential candidates from running, therefore weakening students' representative voice.
Section II: Repeat Section I
WHEREAS the Student Government Web site provides no information on how interested students can join SG, and SG members have more often than not failed to post meeting agendas on their Web site prior to their weekly meetings (but SG was sure to post detailed profiles of each candidate running for the mostly-uncontested 2008 election);
WHEREAS it's a common occurrence for Student Government leaders to tell The Daily Texan they aren't getting covered enough or adequately, as is the case with many student organizations;
WHEREAS The Daily Texan has personally asked SG representatives to post or e-mail agendas in a timely manner so it can publish preview stories in Tuesday's paper to let students know what will be addressed in SG's Tuesday night meetings. This week, like many other weeks, SG failed to e-mail or post the agenda before Tuesday morning, and The Daily Texan was therefore unable to provide students information prior to the meeting;
WHEREAS Student Government meetings are open to the public, but non-SG members rarely attend;
MAY IT BE RESOLVED that getting agendas online in a timely manner is an easy step toward SG's goal of representing the student body, letting the UT community know what issues are on SG's place and increasing transparency for Student Government;
BUT BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that SG's single-ticket system, dangerously reliant on cash and cronyism, may inhibit this goal from being fully achieved.
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