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Last updated: Thursday, May 24, 11:59 a.m.
Editorials | Opinion

Editorial: Mid-strife crisis: UMSG struggles to find identity

Posted on April 22, 2010, at 2:41 a.m.

Former Student Sen. Ryan Gavin’s resignation at the meeting of the University of Maine’s General Student Senate was not an unusual development for a body that has experienced its fair share of controversy this year.

But Gavin’s abdication did break with the trend in at least one important way.

While other representatives who have stepped down this semester did so quietly — usually citing coursework and their upcoming graduation as primary factors in the decision — it was clear in Gavin’s case that the internal climate of Student Government and the former senator’s displeasure with it were the reasons for his resignation.

It served to underscore an issue that had been lurking just below the surface in the organization’s meetings but had never been explicitly stated until now: Student Government is in the midst of an identity crisis.

Heated climates, in-fighting, a lack of productivity, difficulty retaining long-term members — these are all marks of a group that does not have a unifying or well-developed vision. In this case, there seems to be confusion regarding Student Government’s purpose and goals.

Some senators take a minimalist approach, which is more in line with the organization’s original design. They think the body’s chief aim should be to manage and distribute funds from the Student Activity Fee — about $750,000 annually — in the fairest and most effective way possible.

This money has always been Student Government’s primary way of impacting the campus. They have used it to bring high-profile entertainment acts like The Roots and Bob Saget to UMaine, as well as giving access to free newspapers and providing funds for student clubs to host events and activities.

However, other senators think a bigger goal for the body should be advocacy — pushing resolutions and trying to exert pressure on administration to create positive change for UMaine students. It is this type of thinking that helped lead to on-campus dining areas accepting credit cards as payment, which began in January.

Many senators are likely unaware of the conflict entirely, but this only serves to emphasize the point. Even if it takes hours, it is vital Student Government puts this issue on the table for debate and settles it once and for all.

Until student senators can come to a consensus about what their organization is meant to be, they will continue to teeter on the cusp of irrelevancy and squander the potential of what could be a significant, valuable force for UMaine students with hours of bitter arguing and image-tarnishing scandals.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010, 2:41 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.

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  • Sock puppet

    This is nothing new.
    The student senate is a cancer, a huge waste of students money, a playground for misfits who have little skill and a lot of desire to play executive with real money.

    Student government should be a respected position among students, a useful organization, and it is this at many campuses.

    However, at this university the GSS is completely ignored by the UMaine administration who have adopted a hands free approach to the undergraduate student government and annually write them a check for the better part of a million dollars, with which the GSS proceeds to dole out the money with great prejudice against regular student interests and instead on office furniture, a lawyer, themselves, and their closest buddies. By the way, all that money comes directly from our pockets.

    The GSS is a joke, but it isn’t really their fault. You cannot hand over a million dollars to 18-22 year old frat boys and expect your money to be well spent. The University of Maine should be ashamed at what can only be described as financial indiscretion in the kindest possible light.

    No other public university in the country allows this system of student government, without budgetary oversight by the school’s administration.

    Another example of your UMaine administrators at work, or not at work rather.

    If I may digress at this moment… high profile acts are not the roots and bob sagat. Only in Orono would you get away with thinking that. The whole situation is regarding the GSS is a disgusting mess and it has been that way for a long time. Grow some balls and tell it like it is. The GSS sucks. They suck our money, they suck at bringing in entertainment, they suck at running their own meetings, they suck at everything.

    The biggest question you ought to be asking is…

    What is the reason that the University of Maine allows this highly unusual taxation (student activity fee) to go unregulated?

    In effect, what you have is one fraternity controlling a $750,000 annual tax on students, enforced by the UMaine administration… and who are the few students who profit by being a part of the GSS?

    (not the ones who’ve just quit, not the one’s who’ve quit before.)

    You could start finding out what is going on by asking Mr. Curtis (if he were still around), who has a plaque hanging in the memorial gym, and whose firm used to collect a nice fat $100k every year, right off the top of the student activity fee for doing absolutely nothing.

    Legal affairs has always been an enormous conflict of interest. A student is required to pay for the student activity fee which in turn pays Curtis’ salary (now Curtis’ associate’s salary) to provide legal advice to students (not even representation, just advice, representation costs more than your fee).

    However, legal affairs is not allowed to provide advice or representation whenever the student is involved in any legal situation including the University of Maine. The most common cause of students needing a lawyer at the University of Maine is because they are involved with a legal dispute with the University of Maine. So, you are buying legal advice that you cannot use from a lawyer who cannot represent you. Great.

    The whole thing is simply disgusting, but most students don’t know a damn thing about the student activity fee, legal affairs, the fraternity run GSS, or the reason behind why the Umaine administration does absolutely nothing but hand over your money directly to Sig Ep… Oh, er.. I meant the GSS.

    They are easy to get confused.

    I bet this article has about 10 people who view it, and because of that the student’s at the University of Maine deserve to get porked.

    Still, it would make a fantastic story if anyone at the Maine Campus had the guts to research it and right about it from the perspective of the average student.

    I am not holding my breath.

  • Bill

    I will first address the comments above, and then I will address the editorial.

    Sock Puppet, this is not 2004. I am assuming that that is when you graduated (either that or you are on the 12 year plan, which is cool too) because that is the only way that most of your comments make sense. First, to address your comments about SigEp, are clearly out dated. Currently, the only member of SigEp in Student Government, is President Brian Harris. None of the 35 Senators are members of SigEp, so, only 1 of the 8 members of the budgetary committee is a SigEp. A more modern case might be made about PhiKap or Beta. But really man, get up-to-date.

    Second, with regards to legal services, for the past two years, legal services has been able to provide representation.

    Third, a surprising number of student governments around the country operate with bigger budgets and less oversight. Look it up. I have.

    Fourth, back when Curtis was working in legal services (note: this is where you really date yourself) funding for the program was around $30,000 (aka no where near the $100K that you mention.

    To move on and actually address the editorial, I must say that I think that author is reading way too much into the situation. A senator resigned from the Senate in a very public way. Why? Because for the past three months during his tenure as both a Senator and as Parliamentarian, he regularly violated both Senate rules and Robert’s Rules, and bullied and intimidated those senators who didn’t do what he wanted. On Tuesday night the Senate decided that they were tired of this and a number of senators stood up to him, and refused to let his attempts at publically embarrassing them over minor issues (use of the term “motion” instead of “move”) sway their opinions. He couldn’t handle this and resigned.

    This had nothing to do with the vision for the organization. Student Government has a clear objective. It is to help fund organizations and represent student interests to the administration. Not one or the other, but both. What Mr. Gavin wanted was to use Student Government to put him on the national scene by addressing “matters of national importance” rather than things that actually matter to students (like using credit cards in the union). Check out http://www.ryangavin.net if you want to see what I mean.

    Currently, Student Government has a clear objective and seems to be succeeding at it. The funding of student groups is reported on publically, because it often takes up much of senate’s time. Direct advocacy for the students is best approached in a different way, as one on one conversations with administrators are often far more effective at bringing about change. These are two sides to the same coin.

  • Tim Smith

    The recently resigned Senator in question had no ill intentions for Student Government. He was an individual devoted to the sustainability and efficiency of the organization to the end of advocating the greater student interest. Many would have you believe that the rules were implemented for his interest. As someone who worked with the Senator in question, it is clear that these allegations are nothing but the rantings of those who indeed do serve their own interest through the devices of corny public appeal and shrewd politics. I’ll reserve further criticism as the employment of said unscrupulous means are more than likely the result of lack of the agent’s capability.