The 1880

Lucy Goldberg is the Elections Commissioner for the SGA and is “not a voting member and [does] not have a constituency to represent.” She’s e-mailed us this response, which you, our readers, are more than welcome to do by sending it to the form on the lower left.

I would like to applaud those students who have expressed their interest in the Student Government Association of Emerson College. This is partially in response to the controversy that has erupted over the budget allotted to the 2008 Hand Me Down Night Committee, but it is in response to something larger that plagues the nation at large as well as our own direct democracy- the utter lack of communication.

Until now, we have not heard many individual voices with a genuine complaint or concrete concerns as to how our small government is run. As the board gathers every Tuesday in between class schedules and work schedules to discuss the newest appeal or the ever-present business of dealing with Aramark’s services without comment, it becomes difficult to remember that anybody actually cares about the decisions we make. Even the staff reporter from the Beacon becomes ambivalent as we all fill in our governmental roles, nothing more than practice for the day when we will become professionals in the real world.

It is unfortunate that anger and frustration have proven to be the motives for all this discussion, but even anger and frustration can be useful to evolution of our governing body. Even loud dissent is a form of participation, and that is what our idea of government, as Americans, thrives upon. I view our most recent Joint Session as similar to ripping an old, neglected bandage off of a festering wound-the immediate sensation is excruciating. That tearing pain is what I felt as we stood accused of not working within a perfect system, and I do not have the weight of representing a constituency upon my shoulders. However, the pain was temporary and has served a purpose- we know now that our system is flawed and that we must not accept these flaws but must redress the wound so it may heal fully, free of scars.

I see it as a good sign that, for the first time in the recent history of the SGA, the budget allotted for Hand Me Down Night has been hotly debated over the span of several meetings. This alone shows that the initial concerns expressed at the end of last year are being addressed, The length of the discussion on every aspect of the Hand Me Down Night budget, something we have never been able to discuss before, shows the board’s genuine desire to remain fiscally responsible. Nobody in that room made an easy choice the day we finally came to a vote.

This is the first example of the change that can be effected by the smallest degree of participation, but it is also an example that any change must occur by degrees. I can only hope that every board member will take this opportunity to transform the resentment surrounding the SGA into a positive power, and to receive ideas and complaints through every channel of communication. I encourage all of my fellow students to continue voicing their opinions through these same channels: by attending the open meetings every Tuesday; by creating the website that desperately needs to be built and maintained; by running for office in the upcoming general election in any position on the board.
Don’t let the wound continue unexposed; don’t let us forget how to create change.

More information:
The 1880 post on the boycott
Hand-Me-Down Night Boycott Facebook Group