OK fellow Bearcats, we’ve got some praise to hand out and we’ve got some helpful suggestions (a euphemism for criticism) ‘ which do you want first?

The praise? Great!

Despite the poorly planned timing of the last two Town Hall meetings (we can only assume they were accidentally planned for the day before a break, when students were least likely to attend), both the meetings ‘ which were held to discuss the renovation plans for the Old University Union ‘ were filled to capacity. On a campus whose largest problem has been student apathy for as long as we can remember, this showing of interest is refreshing.

And that’s not even the best part! Not only did students show up and loudly voice their opinions on the plans for the Union’s renovation, but University officials listened to the complaints, took everything back to the drawing board, and within a week came out with new plans that more accurately reflect the desires of the student body (for more on the new plans, see page 1).

But as much as this brings a smile to our faces, we can’t help but point out that if student input had been better integrated into the process in the first place, perhaps the administration wouldn’t have had to go through three sets of plans. Don’t get us wrong, we’re glad they’re listening ‘ but maybe if they had listened more from the beginning, everyone would have been saved a lot of time and effort.

So then, we started thinking about how wonderful it would be, since we know how busy the average BU student is, if the student body could just get together and choose a group of active and responsible students to act as a voice for everyone. You know, a group of students who would agree to make the time to stay informed about campus events and politics, work with the administration to ensure that the students are being listened to and actively take part in all projects that affect the students. What an amazing system that would be.

Wait a minute! We already have that body of student representatives, and it’s called the Student Assembly and the SA executive board!

So now we’ve got all of that cleared up, and everyone agrees that it’s the responsibility of our SA representatives to be the link between the students and the administration ‘ after all, they volunteered for, and campaigned for, their jobs.

And at the moment, we couldn’t need the SA more. In addition to dealing with the still imperfect plans for the Union renovation that the administration put forth, the students need their representatives to get involved with the University’s plans for revamping the East Gym into a new Campus Rec Center (see page 1).

With another Town Hall meeting scheduled for late in the semester (another time that students would conveniently be unlikely to attend? Must be coincidence), students need to be working with the administration on this project NOW, and passing along any important information to the student body NOW, before plans are fully developed.

And by ‘students,’ we mean the SA representatives we elected and the committee members they recruit to deal with these issues for the entire student body. After all, accepting a position as a student representatives is a pledge to act for the benefit of the student body. Right now, and in the year to come, we need them to fulfill those pledges more than ever.