Now that it is the end of the year and class cabinets and SGA members are chosen, where do ordinary students fit in with SGA? When someone is asked this, the answer could be “they don’t” because there is not a strong relationship between everyday students and SGA leaders.
What could be the cause of this? Could it be that students don’t get involved with their class activities or go to SGA enough?
I believe this is a small percentage of the case, but the entire case could be that SGA and class cabinets don’t allow students to become involved enough. If a student who’s not popular is applying for a position in SGA or the class cabinet, they will most likely get overlooked.
So how can the majority of students’ opinions be considered when the average student is not being heard?
Alliances between SGA and class cabinets are becoming more apparent. They are most noticeable in decisions that are being made toward certain organizations.
Also many students may make promises to their campaign team for cabinet positions, and that’s why their campaign teams are so big.
SGA and class cabinet positions are filled with recycled members because it is a place of politics. People are chosen based on popularity or some “I owe you” factor.
What’s the purpose of putting out applications when people already know who is going to be chosen?
The only purpose is to make it seem to students that people are getting picked for positions fairly when this is not always the case.
Because of the amount of students who believe being a part of SGA is like a popularity contest, there is a separation between students and members of SGA.
Students decide to put on protests and other events to get heard because they feel that is the only way because of the lack of bonding relationships with campus politicians.
Volunteering is said to be a way to become a part of SGA or the cabinet, but volunteering for these organizations is nothing but following their orders. It offers no opportunity to be heard. You can voice your opinion on an issue, but you have to part of SGA or the cabinet to be able to change an issue.
I’m not discrediting any specific voted leaders for the amount of compassion they may have for the school because they work long hours with little pay, and many students may clash with them without knowing the amount of work they do.
However, I’m simply informing them of the separation between them and students.
Students can also be misinformed on what class cabinets actually install for the betterment of their classes. People think some students get involved in cabinet positions not to make a difference, but rather for a resume booster or other personal goals.
So to SGA and the cabinet I say, ask students. Isn’t that fair? Latasha Edwards is a sophomore public relations student from Houston. She can be reached at latasha_edwards@yahoo.com.