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The Tuesday night impeachment of former University of Maine Student Body President Nelson Carson was, hopefully, the culmination of months of conflict in Student Government.
Numerous wars of words over the body’s still-unfinished website and opinions of the former president’s general efficacy and effort have played out in General Student Senate and this newspaper.
Carson, in his testimony before lead prosecutor Sen. Sam Helmke, was right on one thing Tuesday — the president was not the only issue with Student Government. He has not seen the support of senators, but for various reasons mostly of his own making.
The former president’s defense counsel, Andrew Johnson, derided the prosecution’s arguments as utilizing “secondhand” sources.
But later, a firsthand source in the specter of Carson himself plainly said he has not communicated well with senators, did not go to many of his scheduled office hours and admitted sending at least one text message to embattled website developer Ryan Gavin, egging him on to testify at the trial if he was “man enough.”
Carson’s issues have been highly publicized. But, one story lost in the shuffle of headlines have been claims that Student Government will function better without Carson in office.
“With new leadership, we hold a better shot at moving forward than what we had with President Carson,” Helmke said after the trial.
During the trial, there was a noticeable over-awareness of The Maine Campus’ coverage of Student Government events on Johnson’s end. He read from an editorial and numerous article titles, criticizing our characterization of Carson as part of a “smear campaign” coordinated by Gavin that also involved WMEB, the University of Maine’s radio station.
Someone truly presidential should not be as concerned with media portrayals as they are with progress.
If they were, most leaders would be on the brink of insanity, holed up in executive estates buried in pages of newsprint, bombarded by search results. If editorials are truly wrong, as many are, results would show regardless.
But results were not seen during Carson’s short presidency. Now, it is time to move forward, which is the body’s largest concern at this point.
A lack of progress within the body from here on out would be a more devastating blow than any impeachment trial. If there is inaction to lead among senators, it could confirm, as Carson has said before, a senate “witch hunt” for Carson’s office.
We implore Student Body President Anthony Ortiz and his successor to the vice presidency to represent students the way Carson should have — with prompt attendance at office hours, the concise outlining and execution of plans and oven avenues of communication with senators.
The impeachment of a president is never a positive experience. If this body is to move on, Ortiz’s leadership must be reliable.
Proactive resolutions, with genuine consequences for students, must be passed. Mere attendance at meetings to give money to clubs does not constitute true representation.
