New SSVP election impossible, process will yield positive result
The editorial in Monday’s Daily raises questions that ought to be addressed by Associated Student Government. It questions Berry’s decision to resign and, more importantly, the process that will appoint a new Student Services Vice President.
Berry’s resignation came after a great deal of soul-searching. The time and effort one spends on a campaign as competitive as hers indicates a desire to help students. Berry spent her short term advancing student interests by beginning research into the 2003 Spring Break trip, finalizing cable in the dorms, and fighting for Sbarro in Norris. Previous SSVPs have worked on projects such as improvements to on-campus parking and more flexible meal plans. To say the position cannot accomplish much short-changes what many students take for granted. Her decision to resign before the school year had individual, not systemic, roots. Instead of criticizing Berry’s decision, we ought to applaud the courage it takes to admit to the campus that she did not have her whole heart in the job.
As for how her replacement will be appointed, the editorial posits an intriguing query: why not hold a special election? Firstly, holding a new election would be unconstitutional. ASG’s constitution states replacements must be made by the ASG executive board, and a current exec board member or senator must be selected. It is odd that The Daily would criticize the appointment of Steve Spaulding as President, an unconstitutional move, and then proceed to recommend extra-constitutional means to rectify the current dilemma. Secondly, a new election is time-consuming. To hold a fair election would require reconvening the election commission, repeating the process of declaring candidates and holding debates, etc. Anything less would be tantamount to a referendum (also illegal unless precautions are taken pursuant to the constitution), and candidates already sacrificed three weeks of their lives last Spring. Finally, time is of the essence. If The Daily demands an active SSVP, then he or she must be selected quickly. Questions of legitimacy will be resolved in the appointment process, where student-elected senators will determine if the exec board’s choice is a valid one. We delayed appointing an SSVP until next week to determine who is eligible to run.
I hope campus is aware of the painstaking lengths this executive board has gone through to select a candidate that will fight for student interests.
Jason Warren
ASG Rules Chairman
Communication junior
Student support necessary for ASG to meet goals effectively
While I certainly think ASG can do more for students, its ability to improve campus and student life is derived from the voice of the students. Northwestern students have to want change. Instead of not caring, they must demand more from their senators and elected representatives.
Even if we elected a new SSVP (as opposed to appointing one), the new one would not be able to work effectively without greater student involvement. It seems the only time most students care about ASG is during student group funding and Spring elections. The administration knows this, and it severely limits ASG abilities. ASG’s potential power rests in representing the entire student body, and ASG won’t be able to realize that power until students get involved and become active.
ASG is here for students and student groups. The potential is there for greater work. Now all we need is student support. Talk to your senators! Student groups: take note of everything ASG does and raise issues! ASG is here to serve, and it will once students and student groups start asking for more. Tiffany Berry will be missed, but there are many more students in ASG waiting to work for changes just as great.
Mitch Holzrichter
Weinberg sophomore
chief justice of ASG judicial board
Benjamin’s column misjudged Covington’s NFL opportunities
First and foremost, I would like to commend the Daily sports staff for their blunt honesty, reasonable accuracy, and typical fairness in covering the Northwestern football team. However, as a senior on the team, I feel obliged to respond to Amalie Benjamin’s Sept. 30 column, “Raheem’s recent play gives naysayers reason to re-think.”
Never before has a chunk of journalistic ignorance so stirred my emotions and angered my heart. In fairness to Ms. Benjamin, it must be difficult to distinguish oneself in the journalistic arena. We, as football players, understand that criticism is a necessary thorn in our sides from time to time, seeing as how few Jay Mariottis or Andrew Bagnatos ever emerged from expounding upon the miniscule bright spots of poor performances.
But the light in which my teammate and fellow senior Raheem Covington was portrayed in this column was not a favorable one, as Ms. Benjamin would no doubt like her less observant readers to think. Hidden between obligatory compliments of Raheem’s performance against Michigan State’s Charles Rogers were several assertions that are inaccurate, if not unfair and ill-timed.
Ms. Benjamin claims that Raheem will “never be brilliant.” Anyone who watched his performance against Rogers on Saturday would beg to differ.
She also claims he will never end up on an NFL roster. I’m sorry, Ms. Benjamin, but if you were thinking of applying for a job scouting NFL talent, you better not give up writing “adequate, sometimes good, never brilliant, occasionally terrible” columns just yet. If Rogers is the best player in the country, I’d take my chances signing Raheem any day. In fact, Joel Buchsbaum, writer for Pro Football Weekly and one of the leading pre-draft authorities, lists Raheem as likely ending up in an NFL camp.
“Radio” Raheem Covington is not only my teammate, but a role model of mine. If everyone on our team played with the heart that he demonstrates on a consistent basis, myself included, we would no doubt have a better record than we do now. Ms. Benjamin, I ask you this: after a future game like this past Saturday’s, if you’re going to wow us with your expert criticisms, please write about an aspect of the team that actually performed poorly, not about the player that had the game of his career — a player who is actually better, not worse, than he thinks he is.
Jeff Roehl
Communication senior
NU offensive lineman
Daily Sports does not exist to promote the NU athletic dept.
How dare you write an opinion piece that doesn’t extol the magnificent virtues that all Northwestern athletes possess? Like Ashley Gersuk so brilliantly pointed out, YOU GUYS ARE SOOO-OOOOO MEAN! Why don’t you support the Cats more? You’re OUR student paper, not some independent news-gathering source. You belong to US! PRAISE THE CATS at all times! Don’t you understand that the only purpose you have as a student newspaper is to make those poor athletes feel good about themselves? Especially football players. Instead of calling Brett Basanez a “cocky, kooky new kid on the block,” you should refer to him as a “cocky, kooky new kid on the block who has to get up REALLY early every day and has lots of homework, too!” Don’t you understand HOW MUCH TIME goes into being an athlete? You know what I think?
