The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Putting the “student” back into the student government

Through these budget cuts, keeping the students informed should remain a top priority.This responsibility does not lie with the Fogel Administration, rather, it sits on the SGA administration.The Taylor Administration has failed time and again to inform the student body on the continuing budgetary processes and, through this failure to communicate, has allowed a sizable information gap to develope.This, in turn, has caused further confusion and unrest in our community.A change needs to take place.  The SGA must have constant presence in the community.The SGA should make attempts to connect with the student body, ranging from student panels, to the SGA president sitting in the Davis Center atrium fielding questions, to interviews with The Cynic and The Water Tower, to speaking at club meetings about the state of the University.The SGA should set up an instant messenger or Gmail account where students can message and ask the SGA president questions that they do not have the means to answer.In an era of uncertainty, communication needs to be the main function of the student body president, because if he is unable to do this, they serve no purpose to the UVM student body.Without a means of contact, protests and student walk-outs — like the one recently proposed  by Students Stand Up — become the normative means of communication, creating uncertainty and chaos wherein none is necessary.While we respect that Taylor has spent a year serving the student body by attending all sorts of University functions, it does us no good when he does not communicate what has learned.As the new SGA administration takes over, The Cynic urges President Jones to rectify the errors of past administrations.Communication with the student body needs to be more than a weekly e-mail and an unseen SGA liaison to clubs.The SGA needs to be an active presence in the UVM student body community, constantly disseminating the knowledge they learn at all University meetings in words that students can understand and then discuss rationally.So, to the incoming SGA President Jones, we know you haven’t taken over yet, but when you do, you need to hit the ground sprinting and do so for the full year.The students at UVM need you to reassure them and explain to them what is going on in the University, because if you don’t, what services do you provide? 

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Putting the “student” back into the student government