Lets abolish Student Government

A while ago, I wrote a column pleading with my fellow students to help one another and prevent the inevitable death of our university. Shortly after its publication, Student Government President Matt Rubin mentioned me by name in one of his blogs, took the words wrenched forth from my heart and proceeded to use them to further the goals of the SG.

I was told by superiors and peers alike how flattering being mentioned by Rubin is, but I could not help but feel that my words, thoughts, ideals and aspirations for our university were stolen and perverted.

In truth, I do not see our SG as being legitimate in any capacity whatsoever. The SG of today is a vestige of its former self which once had legitimate authority at our dear UT. It once gave an actual voice to all UT students. At one time, the administration had no choice but to reckon with it.

Today it is plagued with internal quibbles which prevent substantial progress from being made. Sadly, I've been told this by SG members themselves. Today, SG is somehow rendered impotent. Though they pass legislation, they must placate and appease the administration in order. As students, we have known this for some time and have become apathetic to an unprecedented degree — a large majority of students have no idea we have a student senate. This apathy has led our "voice on campus" to be muted and has rendered it into a popularity contest of sorts. In most cases, popularity contests in government lead to kakistocracies.

I am sure there are many things which SG suggests they do for us. However, just by taking a brief look at passed legislative measures, one can see that SG, a student group which receives a large amount of university funding, consistently passes legislation which benefits very few of us students.

I ask that we all question whether or not our student government is our "voice on campus." Is what we say, what we ask, what we believe, being expressed with the urgency in which we feel it by the SG? I say no. What good is a voice when the words are lost in translation and are fated to fall on deaf or unreceptive ears? Furthermore, what good is a voice if there is no group willing to listen? What are we told by SG? I found out from a willingly deposed SG member the startling statistics concerning violent crimes and missing people, mostly young women, from our campus.

No one has told any of us any of these facts. I understand withholding information for the sake of protection, but doing so makes way for ignorance of the present reality and an inability for all of us students to act in a proactive manner for the sake of our own well-being and that of our friends and classmates.

Are we so ignorant and incapable that we need others to speak for us? No. We are our own voice. We know what problems plague us and we know also how to fix them without compromising the legitimacy of our university.

Are we so fragile and naïve that we must be prevented from knowing what harsh realities surround us? No. We ought to and are capable of knowing clear and present dangers and proactively acting together to protect ourselves and prevent such dangers in the future.

We are a generation on the frontier of a new kind of world generations before have never seen. We can handle the harsh realities of life because it behooves us to do so, for only when we know what challenges we face can we ever do anything about them. This applies not just here at UT but anywhere and everywhere humanity exists.

I say, with the utmost urgency and candor, that we do not need student body representatives like a president, vice president or senators making vapid statements urging us to "Go to the game!" or to have "Rocket Pride." I say that we, the students, the ones paying the wages of the administrative body — many of us going into debt to do so, I might add — ought to have reasonable dominion over ourselves and our institution. Perhaps then we can give the term "Rocket Pride" actual meaning.

I, with the help of close friends and associates, have developed an alternative to the current SG. It is completely voluntary and completely democratic. We as students must and will have a voice that will be heard by all, even those which refuse to listen.

Anyone can propose legislation. It is completely transparent. All decisions, all information, all legislation is completely public. There is nothing concerning us that can be kept from us. It is our right, not just as students, but as human beings.

In this model, there is no president, vice president, or any other representative position. There is only a powerless data enterer that compiles proposals for legislation, publishes them and collects votes.

In order to legitimize this new system, we must first play by the rules of the old system. We must elect a SG president who will put this system in place upon the dissolution of the current SG and all its offices. It is here that I announce my decision to tentatively run for SG president. My platform is "I do not want to be your President." I want us all to do what only we have the ability and right to do: to have a legitimate voice in the decisions that affect our present and our future.