UOSA might be its own biggest problem
The recent poor voter turnout and paucity of candidates in recent UOSA elections should be setting off all sorts of alarm bells within UOSA.
It will certainly take more than one election cycle to signal any kind of a trend, but if something is not done, the system risks becoming totally irrelevant (if, indeed, it has not already arrived at that point.)
The problem is particularly acute for Student Congress, which was thoroughly uncompetitive this go-around. The problems, however, may not be student interest, but rather, the institution itself.
It’s no secret to those in the know that Student Congress has very little power. The strongest power Congress has is distribution of funding to organizations through its Ways and Means Committee.
The other committees, though both important and relevant to students, are usually limited to making recommendations to the administration, which is free to ignore such requests if it so wishes.
I served a term in Student Congress myself and although I felt like some somewhat important things were happening and could happen in retrospect, I am rather underwhelmed with the experience. The organization put far more emphasis on following correct parliamentary procedure than on the promotion of students’ well-being. That said, however, I do not wish to condemn the organization or the people in it. I believe the majority of the members of Student Congress are well-meaning people who genuinely want to make OU a better place of higher education.
But the seeming inaction (at least from a student’s perspective) of Congress helps to perpetuate the idea that members of Congress (and indeed, UOSA at large) are doing little more than padding their own resumes.
I will be perfectly honest, I did not vote in the UOSA elections. I am apathetic and completely okay with my decision. I am not interested in being a rubber stamp. The one contested position, the CAC chair, does not affect me in the slightest. I don’t pretend to be representative of the entire student body, but I think my sentiments are likely present within other students as well.
In short, UOSA and Student Congress need to move actively and rapidly to make themselves (and just as important, present themselves as) both relevant and effective. Congress has the potential to be a worthwhile body even given its institutional weakness if run properly. The onus will be upon the newly-elected representatives who mostly did not have to mount any kind of election campaign. Hopefully the effort they saved on this can be contributed toward students’ benefit. Congress’ future is in their hands.
-Daniel Johnson, international and area studies and French senior.
News staff missed mark by ignoring student referendums
For the self-proclaimed “Independent Student Voice” of the University of Oklahoma, The Daily really dropped the ball when it came to reporting on this spring’s UOSA elections. While the editors and contributing writers were busy beating a dead horse by arguing the validity of the theory of evolution or the existence of anthropogenic global warming, three provocative referendum items silently worked their ways onto the online ballot.
Meanwhile, The Daily’s repeated lamentations of the low turnout of candidates for UOSA positions made the very act of voting itself seem like a waste of time.
Personally, I discovered these referendums for a campus-wide smoking ban and a change in the drug policy on the last day of voting after learning of the anti-discrimination amendment from a friend.
These proposals weren’t just routine items on a ballot – they were controversial initiatives that have a history of evoking strong responses from readers.
Only last Monday’s opinion column by Mary Stanfield mentioned any of these referendums—and Stanfield did not mention the new drug policy or smoking ban.
In all honesty, most of the students on this campus (smokers and non-smokers alike) will notice the effects of an enforced campus-wide smoking ban almost immediately, while the same cannot be said for the repercussions of empty UOSA seats or the results of voting candidate X over candidate Y.
A search of the The Daily’s own Web site revealed that no articles that even mention a smoking ban have been run in this paper since an opinion column in September of 2008.
Ironically, the only mention of smoking last Monday was a brief announcement for cessation classes. It’s pretty obvious that this ballot item was completely overlooked by the staff.
Why is it that this “independent” newspaper devotes countless pages to the inane arguments between amateurs as they debate evolution, intelligent design and the comparative merits of unrelated historical figures, yet it refuses to explain the ramifications of the new and separate student drug policy that just got approved?
Why would this news source that is so fond of controversy be completely silent on a vote for a campus-wide smoking ban, even though it was a cover story last summer? It shouldn’t require an opinion columnist to bring just one of these issues to the awareness of the student body.
Regardless of whether this omission came by a lack of information or a deliberate decision on the editors’ part, The Daily completely failed its readers.
I know several students who knew nothing about these referendums or the outcomes before I asked them about it.
Maybe the staff of The Daily should try to report on those few things that could affect students’ daily lives before they rehash the same tired old controversies. The global warming debate will still be around next year.
-Tyler Gibson, chemical engineering senior
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TheJR 3 years, 1 month ago
Tyler Gibson was right on the money.
How did a possible ban on campus-wide smoking not make major headlines on the Daily?
libertarian 3 years, 1 month ago
Probably because it's one of those chronic problems that plagues UOSA - they don't advertise or let the student body know what goes on. It is really difficult to get information out of Student Congress.
mburris 3 years, 1 month ago
Sadly, yes, it is that hard. When the daily wants to run articles about some of the tripe that they run articles about, it's hard to get them to care. They'd rather run hit pieces about the lack of communication that is caused by their own lack of news gathering ability. I've written press releases and spoken to reporters about getting them to cover Student Congress issues, but they just don't seem interested.
They'd rather write about the non-sex in the stacks that maybe is happening or maybe not but maybe enough to write a huge waste of an article. It's frustrating.
It's Green Week, and I wish they'd ask about the awesome events going on around campus to promote sustainable living on campus. (/Shameless plug.)
I won't say that there aren't issues with the communication between Congress and the students, there are. We don't do enough talking. But if no one wants to listen, it's hard to find a wider audience.
I hope that, in the future, things turn around. People SHOULD be interested, since it is their money and their lives we are talking about.
Get involved. Email congress@ou.edu with your concerns. Come by the Conoco Wing in the OMU and talk with the people there. They really do care, and they want to hear what you have to say.
Thanks for listening,
Matt Burris Undergraduate Student Congress Representative
dio 3 years, 1 month ago
Tyler, thank you for this letter.
Hey, OU Daily's editor-in-chief, are you reading letters and comments for your high school newspaper or you just want to make another prank article and whine about election turnouts?
TAG 3 years, 1 month ago
We need better collaboration and the student voice needs to be heard. Take Daniel Johnson for instant, he didn't vote yet he writes about the problems with student outreach and Student Congress inability to really get something done. So why don't we step in and change it around. Lets get out there and do something about it. I have been discussing this with my student organization and with members of Congress and I bet we can expect a change around on a lot of this starting next year. We need ideas on outreach and we need to make student organizations, Student Congress, Housing and Food, and CAC all relevant in reinventing how we do things. I have hope in this, but it takes a lot of effort and I believe we can do it.