“If the opposite of pro is con, is the opposite of progress, congress?” There has been much talk during this academic year by the student body of UB that our Student Congress does very little for the students they represent, especially when compared to years prior. With a very low occurrence of events sponsored solely by Student Congress, students are wondering what, if anything, Congres, is supposed to do.
Senior Christoph Yatsutake, President of the Student Congress, admits that Student Congress has not done very much this year, especially when compared with the progress made under President Jee-Un Lee during the 2000-2001 academic year.
When asked which social events the Student Congress has organized, Yatsutake said that he could not remember any. He told The Scribe that they had planned to organize a forum on cloning, but another student event conflicted, so instead of rescheduling the Student Congress cancelled. When asked about events that Student Congress as traditionally organized, such as Homecoming, the Valentine’s Day Dance, the Booze Cruise, and UB Olympics, he had several different answers. In the case of The Valentine’s Day Dance, which took place earlier this semester, and the upcoming Booze Cruise, the Senior Class has taken the organization of these events themselves. Yatsutake also said that the UB Olympics will probably not take place, but that he hopes that the athletic groups do something similar.
When asked why Homecoming did not take place, Yatsutake said that he “thinks” that there was a conflict with another event, but that he “did not really care about that issue.”
Traditionally, though Student Congress has been very active socially, they are really meant to deal with some of the more important issues of student life. When asked about what non-social projects that Congress has worked on this year, he submitted a lst to The Scribe.
The executive board used executive funds to set up the new Game Room in the Student Center, which displaced the smoking lounge. Because of the way in which the funds were obtained, only the executive board had to vote on the decision. However, the room is now usually empty except for the student worker on duty at the time, and many more students made use of it as a smoking lounge than as a video game arcade.
Yatsutake told The Scribe that the Student Congress has also bee fixing up their own office, and working on a new voting system for the next semester…for Student Congress. Also, they have regular office hours on the second floor of the Student Center…which they get paid for holding. They are also trying to change the meeting schedule next year…for Student Congress.
When asked why, in his opinion, Student Congress has been so inactive, Yatsutake said, “The class that just graduated were real movers and shakers. We do not have the same caliber in Congress now.” When asked if he was disappointed in the Student Songress performance this year, Yatsutake said, “I had hoped for more, but I figured on about this much [participation].”
Yatsutake blames the lack on enthusiasm on the fact that there are no incentives to be on Student Congress. He says, though, that he is working on getting some benefits for members, though he says that he does not want to be unfair to all the other clubs, who also receive no benefits for their members.
Dean Janet Merritt and Director of Student Programming Edina Oestreicher were also asked about how they felt that the Student Congress was doing this year. Merritt said, “Some members have done an outstanding job. Others are not terrifically motivated.” Oestreicher told us, “There is not a lot of interest in student activities in UB, or in many other universities.” Both administrators stressed the fact that in the cases where there is strong student participation, the student bodies can accomplish great things. Oestreicher added that students who are not happy with Student Congress’ performance should pick up a petition and run for office.
And students, for the most part, are not happy with Student Congress. Senior Hildur Arnardottir says, “I don’t know what to think, I never see them. Did we even elect them?” Sophomore Kristine Koehler took a more understanding stance, saying, “There’s not much student participation in the school at all, but hopefully that means that people are cracking down on their studies, because this school really needs that. I’m not going to criticize anyone for not participating in student activities if it’s because they’re too busy with academics, because academics can be very demanding. But, if people realize that they have a heavy workload, they shouldn’t accept positions that they can’t handle.