Opinion
 

Toeing the line

The Student Voice Party has a history of unethical practices

Keenan Singleton

Soapbox opinion features represent the opinion of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Daily Cougar, the student body or the University. Send letters to the editor to dclettrs@uh.edu.
 
 

"If Alysia (Minor) or Re'chard (Thomas) make it into office, UH beware ... "

That quote, from Student Government Association College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Senator Ola Kareem, rocked the University Center Satellite's waxed floor beneath me. 

The Student Voice Party, the ruling class of the Student Government Association for the last three years and the party with which Minor and Thomas are affiliated, has long been a stimulant for complaint and controversy. 

Good for gossip. Bad for the student body.

Before the creation of Student Voice, the members claim student government did nothing, that it was "a country club," as Minor put it. That all changed with one man, former president James Robertson, Jr. But while in the process of becoming the voice of the students, Student Voice became something more by becoming less.

The members of Student Voice have fashioned themselves into masters of the loophole. If the rules allow for any wiggle room, if just a sliver of sunlight peeks through, the Student Voice Party will find it and exploit it.

But nothing is illegal or wrong unless you get caught. The administration has allowed Student Voice to run roughshod over the election process and make a mockery of student government. An overworked election committee often finds its hands tied when it comes to policing Student Voice.

Here is just some of the questionable behavior of Student Voice Party members.

Current SGA president Dawona Miller routinely fails to keep required office hours (20 per week). Miller admitted (but now denies) forging financial documents during her re-election campaign in a Hearing Board meeting in April. In March 2001, Student Voice presidential candidate Heron Re'chard Thomas defaced a shirt of the now defunct UH United Party, which he was wearing at the time, but since he was not officially a member of the party, no infractions were brought against the party.

Former Student Voice member Jon Quintanilla claims that once after a Student Fee Advisory Committee meeting where SGA was denied increased funding, Robertson "tore into" him. Robertson hollered that he couldn't believe that after he put him on the committee to be supportive of SGA, that they would defy his wishes.

Robertson had no recollection of the incident.

"(Student Voice) has this attitude that only (Student Voice) knows what's best for students and anyone who disagrees with them is wrong," Quintanilla said. 

Their recollection of past events is also, at times, fuzzy.

Robertson, the founder of the Student Voice Party, denies encouraging Thomas to run for the presidency, but in a Daily Cougar profile of Thomas on March 2, Thomas said that Robertson encouraged him to seek out the seat.

"He's a puppeteer, whatever he says goes," Kareem said. "It's sad because he's no longer a UH student."

"There's a point when you have to take a hands-off approach and let the students make decisions," Quintanilla said. "He is pulling strings; they rely heavily on James. He does play a role in the overall decision making process."

Robinson claims he has little involvement with the Party.

There's the use of non-students in student matters -- which goes against University policy -- like having former student Faisal Zahed strongly encourage students to vote straight ticket for Student Voice at unsanctioned polling sites Wednesday.

You can say this about Student Voice -- it has made SGA a more diverse, vocal entity on this campus. That's important. It has passed, or at least attempted to pass, several key pieces of legislation. That's also important.

But are those things more important than honesty? More important than trust between the student body and the members of executive board? No, they aren't. 

Let me clarify something -- Student Voice is not an evil entity, crafting a wondrous web of deception.

But it's time for a change in our student leadership. 

Voters beware.

Singleton, a columnist The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at k_singleton@yahoo.com