I was one of those 2,000-plus students who voted in the recent election for the Student Association Executive Board. I did not vote for the party that won (excluding some of the delegates).
I have been at UB for two years and the previous and current SA Executive Boards have both been confronted and questioned about the way they are spending the student activity fee. Both times there has been a lot of negative reaction from the student population about how the student activity fee is being spent.
Let's not wait until the spring of 2005 to confront and question the next SA Executive Board about our money. The undergraduate student body should get accountability from the student government for how the student activity fee is being spent.
In the March 2004 issue of the Quill, the graduate student government published how they spent the graduate student activity fee. The undergraduate student government should do the same. The current SA Executive Board still has time to publish this information in Visions this year if they have nothing to hide.
I would also like to see the university print a more detailed breakdown of how our comprehensive fee is being spent every semester.
I hope the president of the newly elected SA Executive Board is going to buy the round of drinks for everyone to celebrate with monies from his own pocket and not from the student activity fee. Bad habits are hard to change.
Finally, I am disappointed in all those students who didn't take five minutes to vote. I realize that many important events are not publicized well at UB, but I hope these same students will take the time to register and vote for the president of the United States this coming fall.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
