Voting no on Prop 8 is a vote for transparency

Home Opinion Voting no on Prop 8 is a vote for transparency
Voting no on Prop 8 is a vote for transparency
Vote no on Proposition 8 | Flickr
Vote no on Proposition 8 | Flickr

While Americans will have to make a big decision at the polls Tuesday, Hillsdale College students may have an even bigger one to make Nov. 14-17, which involves the transparency of student fee dollars.

Student Federation’s fall semester elections include eight amendment proposals (see newspaper insert) to its constitution that each require a two-thirds majority of students to support. By voting no on proposed amendment eight, students can send a message to Student Fed that they want to know about the important work it is doing.

As it stands, the federation’s constitution requires the secretary to submit meeting minutes for publication “on the official Student Federation website.” The problem, according to Student Fed’s amendment explanation, is that the group doesn’t have a website.

Proposed amendment eight would strike the statement referring to a website and replace it with “The minutes of the Student Federation shall be available for students to examine.”

Voting against this amendment gives students the opportunity to tell Student Fed a message to increase its transparency by creating a website.

Although the creation of a site may take some time, it would outweigh the costs by increasing student access to the federation.

Having a website to post meeting minutes would update students sooner about what happened in the federation’s Thursday meetings instead of waiting for the recap an entire week later in The Collegian. It would also be convenient for keeping a continuing record of votes and meetings that is easily accessible.

But a website could do more than that.

The site could publish Student Fed’s meeting agenda before Thursday. Providing students access to the issues the federation plans to discuss would encourage constituent involvement and allow students to provide feedback to their representatives before they vote.

Also, how many students know who their class representative is? A page on the site could point students to who is representing them or serving on a particular committee for inquiries and campus-improvement suggestions.

Additionally, the website could be a source of frequently asked questions, providing directions how to create a campus club and request Student Fed for funds.

Finally, the site would be a valuable tool for when Student Fed has amendments on which students can vote. While The Collegian had to print the amendments in this issue and the last, it didn’t include the full explanations behind the amendments because of space limitations. Posting them online along with Student Fed’s constitution would put amendments in context with all the information Student Fed wants voters to know wherever they are and whenever they want.

Putting the link to the site in the student activities newsletter and perhaps the MyHillsdale portal would provide students with reminders and easy access.

By voting “no” on proposed amendment eight Nov. 14-17, students can better Hillsdale College by sending a message to Student Fed that the campus wants transparency.