Editorials | Opinion

Editorial: Student Senate’s chance to be the voice of the student body

Posted on Oct. 01, 2009, at 1:15 a.m.

On Tuesday, the General Student Senate ended several weeks of debate and took a stance on TABOR II. Last year, GSS also fulfilled its role as the voice of the student body by taking a position to endorse PowerVote.

Many students are unaware of the inner-workings of the senate. For example, while it would be easy to assume the organization is a legislative body, it is in fact a corporation. Regardless of its legal status, students look upon senate to act as a government, and taking stances on issues that affect students can go a long way in improving the group’s image.

In the cluttered world of college activities, legitimacy is everything. If a group takes themselves seriously, the campus community takes notice. Student government is crucial to the University of Maine. They are put in charge of distributing students’ money and make important decisions on a daily basis. For example, student entertainment deals with huge sums of money, intricate contracts and national entertainment acts.

Possibly because it is so misunderstood, student government is often looked down upon. Its complex intricacies and habit of fighting over what senate’s purpose is instead of what senate should do sets the group back as a whole. But when senators come together to make decisions on issues crucial to the student body, that’s when GSS lives up to its name and acts like a student government.

We urge student government to continue to be vocal on issues that matter to students. As the flagship university in a relatively small state, the UMaine student voice should be a loud one.

Student government, like most university organizations, is a learning experience for its members. But what better experience is there for student senators than being involved in real political issues? A group is only as legitimate as it chooses to be, and we hope student government continues to decide to take itself seriously as the voice of the student body, not just the organization that controls its wallet