The Student Association held its annual awards dinner Wednesday night. Normally, these events exemplify self-indulgent behavior, as student government officials congratulate themselves on another year of meager achievements.
The SA is criticized, often with justification, that it is a haven for Greeks who want to polish up their resumZs by getting their brothers or sisters to elect them. Once in office, they revel in high-profile appearances for the university and ignore the promises they made during election season.
However, this year the SA can claim some legitimate credit. The executive offices, President Parker Wiseman, Vice President Sara Peters, Secretary Kelly Kirk, Treasurer Truitt Taylor and Attorney General Josh Blades; the Cabinet and the Senate, deserve special recognition for their achievements.
The first thing worth noting is the additional $50,000 for student organizations. The executive officers got the additional funding from an administration that had seen four consecutive years of budget cuts. This money allowed one-third of student organizations to receive some funding this year, as opposed to 10 percent last year.
Students should also be grateful to university President Charles Lee, who made the decision to bolster funding. It’s worth noting that Lee made that decision while he was an interim president, a position that doesn’t lend itself to bold moves. Decisions like this one prove Lee’s commitment to improving student life at MSU.
The SA also organized a major downtown music festival and the 3rd annual Bulldog Bash. It assisted in running the first Downtown Music Festival. By better communication with city leaders and forward thinking from those same leaders, Starkville’s reputation as a terrible college town is turned around.
Also worth mentioning is the Bulldog Benefit. This event got students helping out in the community with various charitable projects around Starkville. It has tremendous possibilities for growth.
Another noteworthy achievement was the SA’s role in sponsoring Celebrate Mississippi as a part of MSU’s 125th anniversary celebration. The free barbecue was excellent and the blues music on The Drill Field added a lot to the atmosphere.
Nothing ever happens fast in any type of government, so the progress made on several fronts are worthy of recognition as well. MoneyMate is in the process of being expanded to a few off-campus locations.
Students approved two resolutions during general elections two weeks ago. Pending approval by the IHL board, the first one will improve parking, shuttle service and bring some much-needed renovations to Colvard Union. The other one will allow the Senate to better represent the student body by balancing representation with enrollment of the colleges. The SA’s support and lobbying for these two resolutions was critical to their passage.
The SA is not perfect. Senator attendance during the year was atrocious. Some of the incoming executive officers have expressed doubt that Tuesday’s final Senate meeting will attract enough Senators to have a quorum (the minimum attendance needed to conduct business).
Those absentee senators should take this warning to heart before deciding on seeking re-election next year: The Reflector will be publishing attendance records for this year before elections next fall.
But since student government is a favorite target of criticism by student newspapers all across the country, we feel it’s only fair to acknowledge when a student government does a good job. So, we say thanks to this year’s Student Association.