Wednesday, February 18, 2009
This semester, every KU student in Lawrence must pay $414.70 in campus fees. Student Senate determines the amount of these fees and how they are spent, but many students haven’t a clue what happens to their money, and, alarmingly, most don’t seem to care. Last year, a paltry 12.7 percent of students voted in Senate elections, according to a report by Matt Shaw, student senator. The Kansan believes this is a problem, and it needs to change.
Adam McGonigle, Wichita junior and student body president, outlined an impressive list of programs Student Senate has initiated, improved or funded during the past decade, including the Student Recreation Fitness Center and its recent expansion, wireless Internet on campus, Fall Break and Stop Day, the student minimum wage, SafeRide and Safebus, Legal Services for Students, bluephones, increased lighting around campus, the tuition compact and more. Senate has served as the essential intermediary between the student body and the University administration, acting as the voice of the students on countless academic policy changes.
Alex Porte, Great Falls, Va., junior, student body treasurer and student body vice presidential candidate with Envision, said that with a budget of more than $20 million — paid for by student fees — Senate has the ability to fund programs around campus that can provide tremendous benefits to students.
This school year, Senate spent half of its annual budget in less than 28 calendar days, and 70 percent in a mere two months, according to Porte. Much of that went to pay for a costly and controversial engineering balloon project.
With so much to gain, and to lose, students should be more mindful of what Senate does with their money. Ultimately, they must vote. Mason Heilman, Lawrence junior, chair of the student executive committee and student body presidential candidate for United Students, called the perennial trend in low voter turnout disheartening. He admitted that the student demographic was prone to low turnout, a trend amplified by the hyper-local scale of Student Senate elections. But this needn’t be the case, especially given how ludicrously easy it is to vote. All a student needs to do is log on to the University’s Web site, enter his or her ID, and spend a few minutes selecting candidates. The cost of a year’s worth of fees is $829.40.
Ultimately, voting is about holding elected officials accountable for their actions and this applies to Student Senate. Students have a vested interest in how their money is spent, and for that reason, The Kansan implores students to take a few minutes to vote on April 15 and 16.
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Comments
Editorial: Students can’t afford to ignore their Senate
Yes, vote. Unless you're a GDI.
Editorial: Students can’t afford to ignore their Senate
I think that one of the major reasons people don't vote is because they don't know the voting records of the candidates. What are students supposed to decide to vote off of if they don't have something like that available and easy to access?
Editorial: Students can’t afford to ignore their Senate
I don't care, I'm graduating. It feels great.
Editorial: Students can’t afford to ignore their Senate
Connorm,
www.studentsenate.ku.edu.
The voting records are, and have been for some time, online.
Editorial: Students can’t afford to ignore their Senate
shutchins11:
If by "for some time" you mean 3 weeks, yes they have been on for some time.
The problem with these records is that they don't contain the text of the bills. To expect interested students to dig up the records of bills and go through these spreadsheets in order to look up records of their candidates is absurd.
Editorial: Students can’t afford to ignore their Senate
Connorm,
I agree. They aren't easy to read. Senate needs to get on that.
They have been up for longer than 3 weeks however. Try since November.
Editorial: Students can’t afford to ignore their Senate
I know it has been more recent than that because I had a discussion with someone about it the day they came up. The discussion could have only happened this semester.
Either way, that's not important. My point in bringing up the fact that the voting records are recent is that we have not had published voting records available to the student body in any previous Senate elections. Information like this could surely get students more motivated to vote because they would actually have an idea of what they are voting for.
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