This experiment in student government, whereby elected student leaders are responsible for allocating millions in incidental fees, has been a rocky one to say the least. Nevertheless, it is an experiment worth saving.
Rather than dismantle the system because of student incompetence, as some have argued, students should take the responsibility for their finances more seriously. This begins with the responsibility of the student body as a whole to take the time to research student candidates and vote in student elections. This ends with the responsibility of our student leaders to carry out their duties in a legal manner.
The Oregon Commentator’s Programs
Finance Committee “hearing” (if you can call it that) on Tuesday did prove one thing:
Reform is desperately overdue. Contrary to popular belief — and current practice — PFC meetings are not a forum for student leaders and the student body to air their specific grievances and accuse the Commentator of hate speech. Rather than discussing budgets and fiscal responsibility, as a few members desperately pleaded for, most PFC members spent two hours arguing about their job
descriptions and their moral responsibility to protect one of their own constituents. There seemed to be absolute confusion about what viewpoint neutrality means and whether it is even legitimate.
This is a serious problem. Right now PFC members are either ignorant about the limits on their power — due to rapid turnover and/or a lack of formal training — or they
do not take those limits seriously. Either
way, their promise that student groups will
receive a fair hearing about their budgets is not being delivered.
Our solution: Mandate that PFC meetings are run by a non-voting, outside facilitator who will be responsible for making sure that student members follow the law and base their decisions on fiscal responsibility rather than conflicts of interest and misplaced
activism. It is an ideal compromise: Power over incidental fees would continue to reside with elected student officials, while providing for a more fair, professional PFC meeting.
Something must change if students are
going to continue to be trusted with the
power to allocate their own fees. How many more years will go by before we dub this
experiment an utter failure and students lose control of our money? At the very least, we must find a way to get our student leaders to operate within the law.
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