The Facts: Approximately 40 students came to the Talley-fee protest Wednesday evening at the Student senate meeting. A second open-forum will be held by Senate Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Student Senate Chamber.
Our Opinion: The student advocacy and Student Government receptiveness concerning the Talley-Atrium fee is a step in the right direction for Student Senate as it strives to strengthen relations with its constituents — the students.
Students came out in force Wednesday evening for the Student Senate meeting and seized the chance to have their voices heard about the Talley-Atrium fee referenda.
Students — the approximately 40 that overflowed the Senate Chamber — and Student Government should be recognized for their discussion and see it as a positive sign for the process.
Senators and other Student Government leaders patiently and politely listened to students and seemed to take their concerns seriously. For hours after the open-forum period of the Senate meeting ended, many Student Government members — including Senators Morgan Donnelly, Stephen Kouba and Sam Daughtry, Student Body President Jim Ceresnak and Deputy Chief of Staff Tim Lipka — could be seen engaging students in sincere discussion.
Student Government did the right thing; it put the concerns of students before everything else.
The student turnout disproved any sort of assumed apathy and social ambivalence during the past year; student turnout was relatively low at the bank bailout protests in April.
The response to the Talley fee was something notably different; many students took a real stake in the consequences of the fee and have been vocal in their dissent. Even before Student Senate’s recommendation and the unanimous approval for the Talley fee at the Fee Review Committee, students turned out in large numbers to vote on the measures in the referenda — an impressive 21.4 percent of undergraduate students voted on the proposals.
Student Government must continue to inform and treat “students first.” Students must continue their advocacy as the fee works its way up to the Board of Trustees, Board of Governors and General Assembly. The fee is now out of Student Senate’s hands but is certainly not final — students can still influence the final decision.
Students who are ardently against it should continue to advocate and protest informed. Likewise, supporters of the fee should not rest on their laurels.
The protest last night and response by Student Government was encouraging for the idea of continued debate on the Talley issue. Hopefully it will carry over into another open-forum session Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Witherspoon Student Center.
