Ineffective
This editorial board chastises the Student Government Association a few times each semester for approving questionable resolutions and conducting meetings in an unprofessional manner.
So how fitting is it that our latest beef with the governing body falls during election week?
According to a story in Wednesday's Central Michigan Life, Monday's House of Representatives meeting was cut short because it failed to maintain quorum, meaning not enough members were present to vote on a resolution that is in favor of implementing elective courses in major and minor programs to teach about graduate school entry exams and professional certifications.
SGA requires 63 representatives - 50 percent of the 125-student House - to be present to discuss and vote on a resolution.
But no discussion took place because too large a percentage of attendees on Monday - 78 members - skipped out on the proceedings.
Tim Ellis, Livonia senior and SGA membership officer, said in the story that only 55 to 57 representatives remained, and the meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m., just less than an hour and a half after it began.
"From my experience, most people don't want to be here for more than an hour," Ellis said.
If that is true, then those people should feel ashamed of themselves.
Honestly, how hard can it be to sit through a two- to three-hour meeting once a week?
Ellis said, of the 49 members absent at the start of Monday's meeting, only 27 were given excused absences on Monday. Not only did more than 20 people leave the hearing before it ended, but another 22 neglected to show without reason.
Then there are the excuses
Michael VanOeveren, Rockford senior and SGA House leader, offered for Wednesday's story.
He said a lot of Greek events and exams taking place this week caused the attendance decline. Those are feasible excuses, although it seems bizarre that students would want to be in SGA if they knew studying would get in the way.
But his third excuse had us shaking our heads. Monday also was a nice day outside, VanOeveren said.
Is VanOeveren serious? Representatives figured it was OK to walk out of a student governmental hearing and avoid discussion on a student-based resolution because they wanted to enjoy the warm weather?
Shameful might be too nice a word to describe this excuse if it's true.
This entire affair just further hammers the concept that SGA is ineffective. How are regular students expected to care and be more involved in SGA when it often runs amuck?
More importantly, how can SGA officials expect to be taken seriously by the university when they don't even seem capable of running a successful meeting?
SGA never will gain the student and university support it seeks every year if it continues to step on its own feet.
That's why it is important for next semester's SGA leaders to recognize and fix this problem. Students can vote until 4:30 p.m. today at vote.cmich.edu.
