2008 Woodie Awards
USG Candidates Must Make Good On Promises
Greg Pivarnik
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Commentary
Every year, candidates for Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President vow to bring about transparency, accountability and most importantly, communication to the undergraduate population of UConn, and this year's candidates are no different. However, most often, these platforms usually fall short on all counts. I began the second semester of my senior year at UConn and I still had very little clue about the responsibilities of USG. Even more startling is the apathy of the student body, mine included, which all past and present presidents have failed to address. The responsibility to educate the undergraduate population as well as encourage participation, whether it be active or simply informed, falls ultimately on the shoulders the elected members of USG, who have more often than not, made promises to do so that they did not follow through with.
It would be unfair to hold the future President of USG to the unreasonable standards of increasing student awareness close to 100 percent given that fact there will always be a certain amount of apathy among the members of any democratic society (see national politics). However, an effort to become more accessible to the university population is something that should be expected as part of the job description, not just an optional duty. After all, the money allocated to the group is funded by student fees. Given a recent past of the same old political jargon used to push through platforms that candidates were unable or unwilling to keep, I have no faith that any of this will change with the newly elected presidential tickets.
Most of my disdain for USG has to do with the fact that after almost four years, I was still unsure as to the responsibilities of the organization. I have come to find out that they are responsible for communication with university administration over issues affecting students and most importantly are responsible for allocating a $1.5 million budget to student groups, funded almost entirely by undergraduate fees, and all of the sudden I realized they are more important than I had once thought.
It would be unfair to hold the future President of USG to the unreasonable standards of increasing student awareness close to 100 percent given that fact there will always be a certain amount of apathy among the members of any democratic society (see national politics). However, an effort to become more accessible to the university population is something that should be expected as part of the job description, not just an optional duty. After all, the money allocated to the group is funded by student fees. Given a recent past of the same old political jargon used to push through platforms that candidates were unable or unwilling to keep, I have no faith that any of this will change with the newly elected presidential tickets.
Most of my disdain for USG has to do with the fact that after almost four years, I was still unsure as to the responsibilities of the organization. I have come to find out that they are responsible for communication with university administration over issues affecting students and most importantly are responsible for allocating a $1.5 million budget to student groups, funded almost entirely by undergraduate fees, and all of the sudden I realized they are more important than I had once thought.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Nicole
posted 4/15/08 @ 11:47 AM EST
I think one thing that people often forget about USG President's and Vice President's is that they only have a one year term. It is hard to come into a brand new position, and in this years case have an entirely new staff, and get every single thing you said you would do in elections done. (Continued…)
USG Member
posted 4/15/08 @ 12:50 PM EST
I know for a fact that USG this year submitted multiple Press Releases to be run in that section of the Daily Campus - or at least have a news article about. (Continued…)
Hogan Watcher
posted 4/15/08 @ 4:38 PM EST
This guy is sorely mistaken if he thinks Hogan actually blogs. He has paid staff that handle all of these things for him. I'm pretty sure students would never go for that with USG. (Continued…)
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