Student Government is Where the Money Is

In the prosperous years after World War II, Willie Sutton became one of the most famous men in America. His picture hung on the walls of post offices across the country. People who had no idea who the postmaster general of the United States was knew practically everything about Willie.

Willie Sutton was a bank robber who had an impressive record of avoiding arrest and escaping from prison when avoidance occasionally failed. Because he was a master of diguise, hey called him Willie the Actor and he might have carved out a successful career on Broadway or in Hollywood. He was a brilliant strategist and could have been successful in business. So why did a smart, talented guy like Willie rob banks? Because, he once explained "that's where the money was."

Money's left the banks

Today, the money is no longer in banks; the real money is in government. If you work for government, you make the most money, you receive the most generous fringe benefits and you are assured of a comfortable retirement. No matter what happens to the economy, the government takes care of its own. And if a comfortable retirement is not enough, government service is often a stepping-stone to great wealth through selling government influence and connections in the private sector.

On a smaller scale, much of this is true of student government as well. Look at the wide range of activities available to you as an undergraduate student at LSC. First, of course, you can study hard to get the most benefit out of your college years. Then you can help others by working as a tutor in subjects in which you have a great deal of expertise. There are sports and other physical activities that will strengthen your body and build stamina.

There are many public service activities. Veterans on campus have been working hard on a range of activities aimed at recognizing the contribution of veterans and helping student veterans to succeed on campus. There are artistic and creative activities such as the plays that are put on by students every year, art exhibits, and musical performances. The Sustainability Club works to spread the idea of sustaining our environment for ourselves and for our descendants. The Critic is put out by a volunteer group that includes some who are actually paying for the privilege of developing skills in print journalism.

There is no money to be made in any of these activities. If Willie Sutton were reborn as an LSC student, he would set his sights on a lucrative position with the SGA executive board because that's where the money is now.

When students vote for SGA officers, there is no discussion of pay. Students who work hard in other campus organizations put in the time an effort for a variety of reasons. Some are committed to a cause to which their group is dedicated. Others hope to gain some experience in a student activity that will help them in their chosen careers down the word. Many work extremely hard in activities that give them satisfaction.

Only SGA wants pay

Every one of these student organizations has a constitution, but only one has a clause that allows club officers to ask for and receive large sums of money from student funds. If every club officer were to ask for and receive the kind of compensation that Nick Russo and his colleagues on the SGA executive board believe they have earned, all student activity fees would be drained before a single activity was funded.

In last week's Critic Nick Russo claimed to "see an unnerving amount of apathy in our student body." But it is this very apathy that allows the SGA executive board to grab thousands of dollars from students with hardly a whimper.

To cash in, SGA execs need to satisfy only two groups. First, they must get approval from the administration. They need a thumbs-up from Jonathan Davis. That's easy. It's not his money and the student government has earned his support by following his every recommendation during the course of the year. When alcohol turned up during a Ski and Ride Club event early in the year. Dean Davis spelled out exactly what disciplinary measures should be imposed by SGA and SGA action perfectly mirrored that recommendation.

Then once that minor hurdle is past, SGA needs the approval of the student reps, most of who depend on SGA for funding the particular activities that they are interested in.

The end of apathy

Now what would happen if the apathy bemoaned by Nick Russo and past president John Kleinhans were to disappear. Suddenly students would be aware that the student activity fees they pay are not set by the college, but are set by their very own student government. The college only sets a maximum figure and by a strange coincidence, SGA takes that maximum as their minimum.

To be fair, let's see whether there are grounds for rewarding student government leaders. If their service to the student body goes above and beyond what could be reasonably expect, perhaps a modest bonus might be justified. In last week's Critic Nick Russo said that from the beginning of the year, if he did nothing else he "wanted represent the views of the majority of our students." Has he done that? Only you can answer that question. Perhaps there were issues important to you and Nick courageously went to bat in support of those issues when facing strong opposition.

For long, hard hours

One argument in favor of the request for $4000 in executive board compensation is the claim that they have worked very hard. If you have ever attended an SGA meeting, you can easily believe this. The meetings last a long time dragging on late into the night. There are clubs that have been denied funding because they simply couldn't spend so many hours and still meet their other obligations.

But is this an achievement? Is there a successful enterprise anywhere that is successful because they spend their time in meetings? The way SGA conducts meetings and the way it chooses to disburse funds is nothing to be proud of.

The fallback argument in support of SGA compensation is that others are doing it. This is quite true. Over the years student government powers and perks have expanded nearly as much as the Federal Government itself. There are cases where student government presidents are paid enormous sums as well as benefits such as travel, cell phones, and tuition waivers. If student executives are not well paid, the argument goes, they will abandon government roles and seek compensation elsewhere.

If leaders leave us

I guess those who raise those arguments have not heard about the recession and today's double-digit unemployment figures. The bottom line is that times are tough and anyone who thinks they cannot afford to run for office should pass and let someone else pick up the baton and run with it.