Lobby day was held on Feb. 13. Of the over 50 students that attended, all were lied to and led to believe that they would have had appointments set up with their legislators for them.
On that cold February morning the Student Government president boarded a bus bound for the Capitol, a bus filled with students of SCSU who eagerly awaited their chance to represent this campus and its concerns to their legislators. What followed shocked and confused them. The Student Government president told them that all of their appointments had been canceled. In reality, but unbeknownst to the students at the time, the appointments had never been made. The Student Government president outright lied to the students of SCSU to their faces, an act that is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the student body.
In addition to the lying, the Student Government also shows its inability to handle its money, which is supplied by the students. They rented two busses at the approximate cost of $300 each, one of them being occupied by a mere handful of students who could easily have ridden in the other bus, or a University vehicle. The money that was so needlessly and irresponsibly wasted on the bus could have gone to the funding of another student organization.
Lobby Day exists as a means for students to voice their concerns face to face with the lawmakers in St. Paul, to put a face to the dollar signs that will eventually be SCSU's budget. With decreasing support of the governor and legislature, tuition will rise a rate that is more then five times that of inflation. The government is showing that it does not support higher education spending, and being that SCSU has continually been under represented in MnSCU it was crucial that on that day lawmakers would be made to understand our needs.
In conclusion, it is our opinion that the students of SCSU are being misrepresented by the powers of Student Government. The truth should be known. We understand though that many of you have little interest in these political matters. Be that as it may but, the university budget could impact you with a tuition increase of up to 23 percent. If Student Government wouldn't have lied to you and all students of SCSU perhaps we might have better representation at the State level (where 2/3 of SCSU money comes from) and lower tuition. But instead prepare to open your wallets due to the ineptness of Student Governments President, Legislative Affairs Chair, and MSUSA Rep.
Patrick Silver
Political Science
Chris Monson
