Author: Daniel Minguez
For former senator Roberto Calderon, a cloud of pessimism continues to surround the student government. Last year’s elections failed to fill four seats in the senate and Calderon, frustrated with administrative relations and the Honor Board debacle of last spring, has moved on from student government.Last spring, no one stepped up to take his place. Current ASOC President Patrick McCredie admits to a certain “disenchantment” that haunted last year’s election.
Last spring the student body bore witness to three bouts between the Senate and Honor Board disciplinary committee, as well as a marked decline in legislature and initiatives produced by the senate. The latest measure from last term was an amendment to the senate’s constitution which granted the president express power to fill seats of defecting senators without an election. Calderon explained that from his perspective the hang-ups of last year were bureaucratically based. “Even though you’re dealing with student issues, you’re constantly getting stonewalled by the administration,” he said. Calderon also felt that the rulings of the Honor Board disciplinary committee “restricted senate from student issues to finances only,” which, he noted in some ways separated the senate from its student body.
Yet McCredie is sincerely optimistic that a new year and a new senate will be able to affect more change throughout campus. To him, administrative blockades and a non-producing senate are problems of the past. “Last year there was certainly a lack of publicity, and they [the elections] weren’t well organized. But the new year brings new excitement for student government,” McCredie said. He has addressed the publicity issue by attending hall spreads and encouraging people to campaign. He has also posted in the Oxy Digest, sent out class-wide e-mails, and put in orders with The Occidental Agency to make posters publicizing the elections.
Once he has dealt with the issue of completing the senate body, McCredie expects to see a dramatic improvement in relations with the administration and the lack of initiatives and proposals senate churned out last semester.
“The administration has been very conciliatory, I’ve met with Barbara Avery and President Skotheim and they both have been very receptive,” McCredie said. Since the senate was shut down in the ’04-’05 school year, a major restructuring process has been completed that McCredie believes has “put us in a place where we can affect change on campus.” He noted that senators will now be held accountable by committee chairs to ensure their work is done well.
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