In the January 10 edition of The Poly, Independent Council Senator William Bobrowski expressed his personal feelings regarding the current structure of RPI student government. I would like to clarify the current conditions of the proposal being made before the Senate at this time and add to the understanding of the possible impact it will have on the RPI community. Please bear in mind that these proposed changes, being constitutional in nature, would affect the very foundation on how student government and representation is defined here at RPI.
First, I would like to respond to the points made by Senator Bobrowski in his letter. It is true that student government here at RPI is lacking in participation. Doubt of the abilities of the student government system has led to apathy. This situation, combined with busy schedules and high student workloads, has resulted in the waning participation in the Senate as well as in other governing bodies. The number of governmental bodies itself is not the cause of this deficiency. Such a theory is as ludicrous as cutting off one’s right leg to conserve blood! Senator Bobrowski’s example of "critical mass" follows this logic. Eliminating the Independent Council, which consists of 10 members and operates efficiently on a shoestring budget, would not improve student government participation. In fact, members of the IC are free to join any other bodies they wish to, and the members of which I have spoken to expressed that the elimination of the IC would also mean the elimination of their participation.
The second topic I would like to address is what Senator Bobrowski perceives as the IC’s apparent lack of purpose. Though it had been dormant for a while, it was resurrected a few years ago to represent and defend independent rights when a fraternity was laying claim to large sections of an entire dormitory (they were getting priority from Res Life over independent students). Since then, the IC has served as a small body of independent members, most notably the independent senator. As a combination of poor membership and management, the IC had again suffered along with other atrophied student government bodies up until recently when we elected a new president, began holding weekly meetings, and instituted serious plans to bring a more powerful form of representation to the independent students.
As for the IC class surveys, it is in poor taste that Senator Bobrowski suggest that the Senate Academics Committee take on this activity as he, the chair of the committee, has already expressed his most sincere admiration for the IDEA surveys (the pink surveys passed out at the end of each semester). The IC has previously determined that IDEA surveys do not benefit the residents of RPI as their results are not published and are possibly inaccurate due to a weighting scheme. You will see our survey results in the spring.
Last of all I wish to address the issues of student representation and the amendment wording itself. Representation is the most important task that student government must carry out. Furthermore, Bobrowski’s amendment effectively eliminates the requirement of the independent senator to represent anyone—he cannot be impeached or removed even if he fails to act in the best interests of his constituents. As quoted, Section 4 of the proposed amendment indicates, "The constituents of the Independent Senator shall be all eligible voters who are not members, pledges, or bid acceptors of a social fraternity or sorority." Thus, by striking the IC and leaving the senator, we have not only failed to fix the membership problems of student government, which Bobrowski claims as his primary goal, but we have eliminated dependable representation for independents on campus. In addition, the IC would be killed midway in its current restructuring process, a process that will revolutionize independent student representation on campus.
In closing, I wish to urge those of you who have questions to e-mail myself, huntj@rpi.edu, so I may clarify as to why this proposal is detrimental to the student Union. Please remember when it comes time to vote to do so wisely and accept only those options that will represent your best interests as a constituent in the RPI community.
