LETTER: Columnist fails to acknowledge accomplishments of SA Senate

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by Joel Grus, Laura Moodey and Scott Ruthfield

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To the editor:

Student contribution in rebuilding the pub. Expansion of library hours during finals. Major expansion of the Silver Saver Card and Newcomers Guide. Successful changing of graduation honors policy. Selection and training of new college officers. More blue lights. The Hobby shuttle for midterm and Thanksgiving breaks. Online homecoming elections. Envision grants. Campus recycling and the Green Lights Plan. BYOB registration of Senate meetings. Financial, emotional and spiritual support for everything from the Pride rally to the Senior Committee to the Lunar New Year festival to Hakeem's speech. And yes, toilet paper.

To George Hatoun, this apparently seems like very little accomplished.

But the Senate has done this and many other things which might not make his column but which affect the lives of all students.

Maybe if he devoted more space in his column to describing these accomplishments than to twisting Kathy Noack and Jay Fundling's words completely out of context, we might have more to discuss.

According to Hatoun, one of the Senate's "crowning achievements" was "levying a shuttle tax on all undergraduates."

Hatoun neglects to point out several facts, some of which he reported on in the Thresher in May.

The Senate was able to defeat a larger parking fee (from $96 to $80); the Senate helped change the shuttle bus system; the Senate brought the university to create a new Parking Committee to help set long-term policy.

Some basic facts need to be known.

The Senate spent September and October setting long-range goals, putting together some ideas for the rest of the year and discussing some issues to try to decide.

Members of the Senate then spent the entire year working on those issues.

Yes, many of them came to a head at the end of the year -- as they should.

Senate members talked (and continue to talk) to students and administration, suggested policy and took action.

Hatoun gave four examples of so-called new issues: Sammy the Owl, Internet elections, pass/fail designation and blanket tax.

These are instructive because they show that Hatoun hasn't been keeping up.

Sammy the Owl began last semester; Internet elections started at homecoming; we've been discussing pass/fail since September; the blanket tax isn't a Senate issue at all.

In the end, Hatoun's comments about the SA were outright wrong.

The Senate's not perfect, but it completed a lot this year, without worrying about elections or impressing George Hatoun.

Joel Grus

SRC President

SRC '96

Laura Moodey

SA Secretary

Brown '98

Scott Ruthfield

SA Parliamentarian

Lovett '97

and 17 other Senate members

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the February 16, 1996 issue.

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