SGA vote fails to inspire turnout

Author: Kelly Janis

Hiba Fakhoury '09 defeated Tik Root '12, 594 to 308 votes, in a special mid-term election to become Student Government Association (SGA) president following Bobby Joe Smith III's '09 resignation last month. Fakhoury appointed Katie Hylas '09 her chief of staff, and students elected Chris Goodrich '10, Janet Gehrmann '12 and Worth Baker '12.5 to the senate.

Among Fakhoury's first order of business is making students more aware of the SGA's role.

"There are a lot of things that get done in the SGA that students don't know about," she said.

To this end, the organization will hang posters featuring representatives' names and photographs, and distribute comment cards in the dining halls.

Fakhoury will also work to foster solidarity within the body itself. The SGA recently passed a motion to have an agenda-free meeting for this purpose.

"Members of the cabinet and senate are going to sit down, talk and work together on what it is we want to do for the next couple months," she said. "That will be a good starting point."

In addition, the newly-elected president is striving to increase communication with administrators. As a model, Fakhoury referred to a meeting the SGA had with President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz and Acting Provost Tim Spears last week.

"We ran through all the bills we've passed and all the initiatives we've talked about throughout the year, and let the administration know what we've been up to," she said. "Until that point in time, they didn't know we had done all this work."

Fakhoury hopes this contributes to increased collaboration between students and college officials.

"We have a really talented and creative student body, and students should be involved in decision making," she said.

This is especially true where the College's budget is concerned.

"The role of the SGA in the next couple months is to see what students really value the most, and have them be a little more proactive and less reactive in terms of providing alternatives that are more cost-efficient than the things being cut now," she said.

Meanwhile, Root - who will continue as First-year Senator - delivered pointed criticisms of the campaign and the SGA at large.

"The election process was too hurried," Root said. "It turned it into a popularity contest. Not necessarily a popularity contest, but a networking contest."

He said electronic voting was similarly problematic.

"Everyone I talked to - at least four out of the 10 people I talked to - swore on their mother's grave that they didn't get the e-mail from the SGA with the election link," Root said. "When I asked them to look for it again, they said, 'oh, there it is.' And that's why we got 900 votes. People subconsciously just overlook the SGA. If you got less e-mail from them, you'd be more likely to read it when you did."

Root said the SGA is "fundamentally broken." He claimed that meetings are poorly structured, and that senators are provided with insufficient information. Root believes the organization could be mended by delegating its members increased responsibility.

"We don't have many obligations," he said. "We don't have that much to do, and that lack of personal investment of time and energy creates a sense of apathy. Giving people more responsibility not only gives them more power to make decisions, but also gives them a greater personal stake."

Root plans to run for SGA president again later this spring for the 2009-2010 academic year. Meanwhile, he is working on bills to restructure the Community Council, increase interaction between students and the Budget Oversight Committee, and implement closed, confidential meetings between SGA members and administrators.

Root said he is concerned that the transition process will impair the organization's efficiency. Fakhoury acknowledged the challenges before her, but was confident they can be surmounted.

"I wish there were more time, but I've been very exposed to what's going on," she said. "I've been with the SGA all year. I've talked to all of the senators. I know what they're working on. I know what discussions have been happening. Now, it's a matter of re-structuring the meetings and getting things done."

Much of the organization's ability to do this, she said, hinges on student involvement.

"Our meetings are open to every student," she said. "If you really care, and you feel like you don't know enough, come ask us."