SGA Attorney General breaks silence on President Prince
Jeff Yaeger
Issue date: 2/11/09 Section: Opinion
As the Attorney General of the SGA, I have largely been silent about the issues surrounding our government, until now. For those who do not know, the Attorney General has an unpopular job. I have to prosecute all cases in the Student Hearing Board for when people get written up on campus, as well as investigate all complaints and irregularities as requested by the Student Senate. Despite the nature of this job, I know that it must be done in order to have an effective SGA, and when I ran for this position last spring, I promised the Student Body that I would never sacrifice the integrity of our government in the execution of this position.
"Integrity" is a key ingredient that has been trampled on within our Student Government from the beginnings of this administration, starting last May when I took office. As many know, most of the Executive Board took an infamous trip with various funds to Washington D.C, where a great deal of "lobbying" and "training new officers" supposedly took place. As the Attorney General elect, I did not find it ethical to betray the Student Body who just elected me to attend that trip. Several months later, I was asked to investigate President Prince for malfeasance and nonfeasance because he chose not to appoint various applicants to the Commuter Senator position, and after a long investigation process, the Student Supreme Hearing Board ruled that although these actions may not have been "ethical", they were nonetheless "legal". Now, at the beginnings of this spring semester, President Prince attempted to appoint Matthew Belcher, a member of his fraternity, to the Vice Presidential position. Although Mr. Belcher has worked hard for students this year, he chose to take the position through a "loophole" in the by-laws. The Student Senate accordingly vetoed this appointment.
With this integrity problem, the question remains for students: Is this SGA legitimate? I say it is. President Prince has sacrificed his integrity by attempting to run the government like a "country club". While this is discouraging, it is no reason to lose hope. Several executives, myself included, work very hard to give the students a government to be proud of. Yet, time and time again, our efforts are overshadowed by the exploits of President Prince, and students only see this. By the end of last semester, I got so discouraged by this whole enterprise that I contemplated resigning my position.
"Integrity" is a key ingredient that has been trampled on within our Student Government from the beginnings of this administration, starting last May when I took office. As many know, most of the Executive Board took an infamous trip with various funds to Washington D.C, where a great deal of "lobbying" and "training new officers" supposedly took place. As the Attorney General elect, I did not find it ethical to betray the Student Body who just elected me to attend that trip. Several months later, I was asked to investigate President Prince for malfeasance and nonfeasance because he chose not to appoint various applicants to the Commuter Senator position, and after a long investigation process, the Student Supreme Hearing Board ruled that although these actions may not have been "ethical", they were nonetheless "legal". Now, at the beginnings of this spring semester, President Prince attempted to appoint Matthew Belcher, a member of his fraternity, to the Vice Presidential position. Although Mr. Belcher has worked hard for students this year, he chose to take the position through a "loophole" in the by-laws. The Student Senate accordingly vetoed this appointment.
With this integrity problem, the question remains for students: Is this SGA legitimate? I say it is. President Prince has sacrificed his integrity by attempting to run the government like a "country club". While this is discouraging, it is no reason to lose hope. Several executives, myself included, work very hard to give the students a government to be proud of. Yet, time and time again, our efforts are overshadowed by the exploits of President Prince, and students only see this. By the end of last semester, I got so discouraged by this whole enterprise that I contemplated resigning my position.
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