A Yuletide Dowdometer and a poll
Posted by: Will Sommer in News, Vox Populi, tags: Dowdometer, Pat Dowd
It’s Christmas-time at Georgetown, a time when all hearts on campus turn to one man who promised us salvation: Student Association president Pat Dowd. That makes for a perfect time to evaluate Pat’s term thus far using the Dowdometer, which judges Pat’s performance against my low expectations (the red bar).
The last time the Dowdometer was turned on, Pat was floundering after the collapse of his pumpkin giveaway. How do things look now?
Actually, pretty good! Pat’s silence on SAC banditry and apathy towards sexual assault programs aside, Pat’s done a lot for us:
- Setting up GUSA Summer Fellows
- Negotiating the return of beer pong tables
- Not being Vishal Aswani, the head of GW’s Student Association and a hilarious tale of student government paranoia.
This Dowdometer check was heavily influenced by Voice writer Kate Mays’s evaluation of Dowd. Like me, Kate expected to give Dowd another smack but realized, upon consideration, that the kid is all right.
Don’t let the Dowdometer’s scientific rigor tell you what to think, though! Vote on Pat’s first term in our first-ever Vox Populi poll.
Christmas decoration by Hunter Kaplan
Entries (RSS)
The Summer Fellows program was the end of last year. Don’t get me wrong – it was a flagship achievement, and I hope it’s extended even farther. Probably one of the best initiatives we’ve seen since the Go-Card drive.
But that was last year. The SAC issue is one of the biggest concerns on campus – and has been for years. And with SAC attempting an unprecedented power-grab, the silence of Dowd speaks volumes.
Remember that all of this can be traced back to the unfortunate decision not to action action by a former GUSA President (and current Rhodes Scholar) Pravin Rajan. While he accomplished a lot, he neglected to address Dr. Olson’s memo announcing SAC’s independence — and as a result, SAC’s been using this “inaction” argument ever since to bolster their claims and their illegal constitutional change.
So for Dowd to stay silent on this issue – the defining issue for groups – may be the equivalent of letting SAC grow even more powerful and unresponsive. And that would be a tragedy, “the return of beerpong tables” notwithstanding.
I’m just not sure right now how important it is that Pat get involved in SAC’s restructuring. From what I’ve read lately, it looks like GUSA has them where they want them, more or less.
What was the GOCard drive?
I don’t think the proposed SAC detente is at all adequate, for reasons others have outlined. For a critique of the proposed “solution” by some of the GUSA Senators, see the comments at http://www.thehoya.com/node/17189 or talk to Troiano.
The fact that Dowd is staying out of this is frustrating, as it makes Dr. Olson less inclined to step in. Even more so frustrating is his comments which make it sound like the SAC-Senate debacle is one based purely off of personal animosity and is a sideshow. That’s actively poisoning the well.
Now, if he can get on with the SafeRides program expansion, there’s reason for hope. But SAC reform should be an agenda on his list.
The GOCard drive was the drive by GUSA to coordinate all the various cards into one card, which became the GOCard. Before then, there were about five different cards – one for your dorm, one for laundry, one for your ID, one for the library and another for printing.
Whoa there Troianofever–I’m not so sure we should be sorry that Dr. Olson isn’t likely to step in. Recall that his was the 2003 memo that gave SAC the very autonomy at which you bristle today.
As for all the old cards, holy moley…
Olson has to approve any and all changes to the SAC Constitution – so he’s the only one who can step in to potentially stop this. The most sensible thing – which is what Nick is calling for – is for Olson to step in and put a “freeze” on any constitutional changes until GUSA, SAC, the clubs and the student body as a whole can discuss how to best move forward.
So it’s quite important that he step in – and Dowd’s comments and inaction certainly haven’t helped.
Ah, got it.
Yeah, we screwed that one up big. I was so focused on demonstrating competence on areas like meal plans, security, and alcohol policy that I didn’t even touch this issue. In the end, Eden Schiffman tried to set the stage for GUSA to retake control, but the Department of Student Affairs is unlikely to give students any say over how their student activities fee is spent.
Here’s a thought: let students determine where their money goes. You pay that student activities fee, you should determine which clubs and organizations it goes to. That way instead of having a million clubs that do nothing, clubs that add to students’ lives are rewarded rather than the ones who know SAC commissioners.
Just a thought.