Daily Egyptian Spring 05
USG president says overhaul not needed
Moustafa Ayad
Daily Egyptian
The Undergraduate Student Government president said the governing body does not need the overhaul its former vice president is proposing because senators have begun changing the organization's culture of "apathy."
President Tequia Hicks said USG's recent decision to change its constitution and the increased number of proposed amendments are proof the government can work within its current structure. Hicks remained relatively quiet as her former running mate waged a campaign for a series of changes calling for a complete overhaul of the organization she runs.
In an interview Friday, she said former vice president Nate Brown's plan has become useless because the senate has passed a number of changes including a new constitution that addresses the root of many problems USG faced. Hicks said she had been encouraged by Brown's enthusiasm to make a difference but thought it was only a ploy to make the senate work harder. She said she did not immediately respond to Brown's proposal in order to see how the senators would react.
"This new government was supposed to be a last resort," Hicks said. "That's where the split came." At the past two USG meetings, senators have passed a combination of 16 amendments and resolutions, a far cry from what Hicks called a dismal fall semester. Several members of the executive branch said the rise in senator enthusiasm and involvement is a direct result of Brown's proposal.
"If that's what it took - we got a new constitution," Hicks said. "If somebody had to resign or if somebody had to propose a threat, then that's what had to be done." Senators have written resolutions challenging lawmakers to create a federal budget that would save Amtrak as well as 48 Department of Education programs that were left out of President Bush's budget.
While senators pressed for more resolutions and met outside senate gatherings to pass a constitution as a testament to their work ethics, Brown said he still believes the senate's problem is much deeper. He said the senate should rid itself of the name and bridge the gap with the administration. "USG is so anti-establishment and anti-administration that it has burnt bridges," Brown said. "The only way we can get rid of that is by forming a new government."
Brown has been campaigning to receive the 5,000 signatures needed for his proposal for a new government. Over the past two weeks, he has met with administrators on campus to get a feel for where they stand on his proposal. Brown said he has 1,500 to 2,000 of those signatures. Brown predicted he would have the signatures two weeks into the campaign and now has revised his completion date to before spring break.
Senators have expressed criticism over Brown's meetings with administrators and his proposal's reliance on communication with Anthony Hall. Daniel Bachert, a senator from Thompson Point, passed out flyers beneath some of his constituents doors urging them not to sign the petition for Brown's proposal.
The flyer read Brown was attempting to "limit your voice as the student body and give the administration more power." It went on to read, "What I am asking you to do is NOT sign this petition because it would limit your voice." Hicks said Brown, who resigned after proposing a USG overhaul, did not write the resolutions and amendments that passed at USG's last meeting but that the revisions and amendments were a collaborative effort of several senators and Brown.
However, in USG's agenda for its last meeting, the amendments to revise the USG constitution and revise the senate's rules and procedures both stated, "Written by the former vice president." Although Brown's signature as well as his name is tied both to the constitution and some of the amendments passed Wednesday, Hicks said the vice president's name appears on many new resolutions as USG procedure.
Hicks said Brown refused to acknowledge USG can be changed internally, through resolutions and constitutional amendments, and that has left him without any other choice than to stand by his plan. "What it is is a pride thing," Hicks said. "You are so driven to keep with the right thing that you don't notice when things change."
Last update: Monday, February 28, 2005 at 4:22:04 AM
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