It was once said that "a basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency." I can proudly say that democracy must be alive and well, because I have had one of the most engaging dialogues with the student body in the past week than I have had in a long time.
It has been a talk about the importance of budgets and circulation sizes and it has been between students, administrators and faculty. This is how the process is supposed to work, and I'm glad to see it does. Based on the concerns of the student body, I have a better idea of what is important to them and what should be better funded in the 2010-2011 proposed Student Government Activity and Service Fee Budget. This will include the continued funding of the Collegiate Readership Program that brings The New York Times and USA Today to our campus.
It has been made clear to me that initiatives like the Collegiate Readership Program are a valued source of information that affects many students' daily lives. As was stated in yesterday's article on the issue, there have been no formal cuts to the program, and there should be issues of the Times sitting in their respective boxes all across campus. The current budget proposal includes a decrease in the funding to the program. Because of the feedback from students, I pledge to propose changes to the budget that will include the $60,000 of funding for the Collegiate Readership Program that will mirror the funding from years past. This money will come from SG operating costs such as phones, supplies and other everyday expenses.
I would like to thank all of the students and senators who voiced their concerns to me. Without your opinions, we would not have been aware of these concerns. I feel that we could have dealt with this issue even sooner if people like student Sen. Jonathan Ossip had voiced their concerns at our first round of budget hearings back in July. It seems that instead he would prefer to make political hay out of the issue instead of engaging in the cordial dialogue that I have had with senators from the Unite, Gator and Progress parties over the last week. It seems odd that for a person who seems so concerned about the needs of the students, his party would rather cry wolf than have an open dialogue about this budget.
The second part of the quote I mentioned is transparency. This process can only continue if students remain involved, so please attend Senate meetings and voice your concerns. If you have something to say about the proposed budget feel free to e-mail me or come to meetings and speak out so we can continue to make SG work for you.
Maryam Laguna is the Student Body treasurer.
