Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                            Matt Dulin    Barrett Goldsmith    Zach Lee 
                Jim Parsons            Christian Schmidt           Blake Whitaker

The truth hurts

The result of Wednesday and Thursday's Student Government Association vice presidential runoff election sealed a final victory for the upstart party UH 4 U.

But it's not quite accurate to say that the Student Voice party is on the outs, with about a third of the Senate made up of its members. At this point, though, it lacks the leadership that mobilized the party in previous years.

And, for a party that built its entire platform on amending Student Voice's faults, UH 4 U has its work cut out for it. As a party, it has a clean slate. Now is its chance to back up the talk.

Both parties have something to prove. It's UH 4 U's only chance to get off on the right foot and set a precedent for future administrations. It's Student Voice's opportunity -- perhaps its last -- to prove its worth to the students.

But if this year's elections were any indication, students are starting to tune out Student Voice.

The situation presents President-elect Jon Quintanilla and Vice President-elect Matt Bell with the task of working with a divided Senate. It's hard enough to get results out of SGA normally; getting it to do so with two clashing parties may require small miracles. It's in the best interest of both parties and the students they serve to put aside their politics and act to make student government strong and viable.

The next SGA administration should demand results and expect excellence. It should be accountable. It should maintain a healthy separation from University administration and expand outreach to students in every corner of the campus. It should get a working Web site that's useful and up to date. It should manage its money accurately and appropriately.

Put simply, we think the SGA should do a lot. But more than anything, we want students in SGA to spend more time engaging and advocating for the student body and less time bickering amongst one another.

Send comments to dccampus@mail.uh.edu