Pete Steele’s attempt to outrage the student body about the passage of a practical, beneficial and far-reaching bill is laughable. He attempts to anger us with this shocking fact: “(Y)our own money was volunteered without actually consulting you first.”
Yes, Mr. Steele, that process actually has a name – it’s called democracy. It is the reason we elect people to office instead of having someone submit every decision up for a referendum vote. You see, I voted for my senators because I was willing to let them speak on my behalf, to make decisions that are in our best interests as students because we can’t be there for every resolution.
And the decision to provide students with a 24-hour health line where we can get advice about medical treatment by describing our symptoms is most certainly in our best interests.
Most laughable is the hypocrisy in his column. Excuse me, but when have I ever been consulted on how USG spends my money? Was I consulted when Pete gave Block “O” $1,475 to have a party? Was I consulted when he gave himself and other industrial engineers $1,000 for an Industrial Engineering conference? Did he try to reach me before he spent $1,493 on a pep rally? Was I contacted when the Governmental Relations Committee bought themselves $1,600 worth of T-shirts? How about when USG spent $2,500 on a retreat for themselves?
I’m sorry, maybe my phone was off the hook. Or maybe my e-mail was on the fritz. Because I know that you certainly wouldn’t dream of doing something as, like you say, “flagrant and irresponsible” as that. Just one quick question: Is it more fiscally irresponsible to fund a program that benefits 200 students or to fund one that benefits 38,000?
You have consistently spent my money on things that do not benefit me at all in any meaningful way and have not contacted me about any of them. Ever. And now, something comes along that will benefit the entire undergraduate body, and you want to trash it because students haven’t been consulted?
I cannot believe that USG would even think of vetoing the one proposal that has, in my four years of attendance, a hope of providing a serious good to the entire university community.
If I had been consulted about the spending of USG’s money to fund this health line, I would have said: “Yes. Yes. Yes. Please, yes. “I would have said “thank you.” I would have said “thank you for finally doing something that benefits the entire student body instead of yourselves or a few other hundred students. Thank you for providing a service that I will actually use all year round. Thank you for giving students without health insurance, without a local doctor and without care, some access to information about their health and wellness in times of need.” I would have said “Yes. Please. Finally. Thank you.”
So go ahead and consult the student body. Ask them whether they would rather pay for complete strangers to have conferences or for a service where they have someone on hand, 24/7, to help them personally with issues of health and wellness. And while you’re at it, look up “representative democracy” in the dictionary.
Juliana VinesSenior, English and political science
