Dedicated to the student body

Only an infinitesimally small percentage of the University of Houston student body is willing to volunteer the time and energy necessary to serve as student leaders in the Students' Association.

The 40 or so people who make up the SA Senate are prime examples of that dedication. Along with classes and social obligations, they still find time to attend Senate meetings every other week, as well as a number of various committee meetings each month.

As a result, it comes as no surprise that those 40 people truly believe they represent the best interests of the student body.

After all, the majority of the 35,000 or so UH-Main Campus students only care about one thing -- "Just give me my classes, give me my diploma and let me outta here!"

It's unfortunately true that the majority of UH students are only concerned about an issue when they are directly affected by it, such as when a new fee suddenly appears on their fee bill, or a new rule suddenly intrudes on their student routine.

As a result, most UH students are not concerned about the "big picture" of how student government, university administration and student services operate. They would just as soon leave those problems to someone else.

However, SA officers and senators often use that student apathy as an excuse to rationalize why they haven't taken strong positions on student issues.

In the past two years, SA has literally ignored some important student problems, like the fact that no fire and safety or building inspections have been carried out in UH dormitories for several years.

UH administrators are unable to produce any documentation of these inspections because those documents do not exist.

But have SA senators or SA officers stood up in the Senate and demanded that the administration inspect those residence halls? The answer, sadly, is a resounding "NO."

SA officers and senators are theoretically supposed to represent the interests of the student body. However, when SA officers, in particular, are speaking, they often sound more like public relations officers for the university than advocates for the good of the student body.

More than once this year, SA officers criticized The Daily Cougar for running so-called "bad" stories about the university. We were told we shouldn't run stories that hold the university in a bad light "because important business and civic leaders in Houston read the paper."

On the Senate floor, members seem more interested in engaging in games of political one-upsmanship with their fellow senators than in addressing legitimate student concerns.

For all the talk about all the things SA has allegedly accomplished this year, we can't figure out what "accomplishments" they are talking about.

Perhaps the incoming SA representatives can refocus SA's priorities from building a good image of the student body for UH to building a good UH for the student body.

Dedicated to the student body

Only an infinitesimally small percentage of the University of Houston student body is willing to volunteer the time and energy necessary to serve as student leaders in the Students' Association.

The 40 or so people who make up the SA Senate are prime examples of that dedication. Along with classes and social obligations, they still find time to attend Senate meetings every other week, as well as a number of various committee meetings each month.

As a result, it comes as no surprise that those 40 people truly believe they represent the best interests of the student body.

After all, the majority of the 35,000 or so UH-Main Campus students only care about one thing -- "Just give me my classes, give me my diploma and let me outta here!"

It's unfortunately true that the majority of UH students are only concerned about an issue when they are directly affected by it, such as when a new fee suddenly appears on their fee bill, or a new rule suddenly intrudes on their student routine.

As a result, most UH students are not concerned about the "big picture" of how student government, university administration and student services operate. They would just as soon leave those problems to someone else.

However, SA officers and senators often use that student apathy as an excuse to rationalize why they haven't taken strong positions on student issues.

In the past two years, SA has literally ignored some important student problems, like the fact that no fire and safety or building inspections have been carried out in UH dormitories for several years.

UH administrators are unable to produce any documentation of these inspections because those documents do not exist.

But have SA senators or SA officers stood up in the Senate and demanded that the administration inspect those residence halls? The answer, sadly, is a resounding "NO."

SA officers and senators are theoretically supposed to represent the interests of the student body. However, when SA officers, in particular, are speaking, they often sound more like public relations officers for the university than advocates for the good of the student body.

More than once this year, SA officers criticized The Daily Cougar for running so-called "bad" stories about the university. We were told we shouldn't run stories that hold the university in a bad light "because important business and civic leaders in Houston read the paper."

On the Senate floor, members seem more interested in engaging in games of political one-upsmanship with their fellow senators than in addressing legitimate student concerns.

For all the talk about all the things SA has allegedly accomplished this year, we can't figure out what "accomplishments" they are talking about.

Perhaps the incoming SA representatives can refocus SA's priorities from building a good image of the student body for UH to building a good UH for the student body.