Over the past few days, ordinarily apathetic and politically unconcerned
Concordia students have reasserted themselves in the face of awesome and unbelievable circumstances created by the student union and its executives. Now, there are even calls coming from outside our walls to tame our political representatives.
For our student union, now is the time to wake up.
The alarm clock has been ringing since last Wednesday’s general assembly. That day, hundreds of angry students packed the meeting, voting down one motion proposed by the executives. This motion concerned the expulsion of certain multinational corporations for their purported criminal and war mongering activities abroad.
The executives immediately hit the snooze button, saying that they heard what students had to say, but would continue pressing ahead with their own agenda.
Within days, the alarm started ringing again. This time, it was an uproar over the union agenda, amplified by unusually intense attention from the mainstream media and other parties.
These latest events only underscore how out of touch some of our elected representatives are.
At least there are some positive developments to report on this front. The CSU council of representatives decided it would impose new guidelines upon the executives for the publishing of texts and newsletters. These will now have to be screened by the council first. There is also news of a recall campaign against the executives. These are encouraging first signs for restoring faith in the political structure at Concordia.
In a sense, we really do deserve the government we voted for: only about 10 per cent of the student population voted in last year’s general election. Let the current mess be a lesson for our voting patterns in the future.
Students shouldn’t only care about student politics when decisions and campaigns make them angry. They should be present all the time, constantly reminding our elected representatives who’s really in charge: students themselves.
Concordia students have reasserted themselves in the face of awesome and unbelievable circumstances created by the student union and its executives. Now, there are even calls coming from outside our walls to tame our political representatives.
For our student union, now is the time to wake up.
The alarm clock has been ringing since last Wednesday’s general assembly. That day, hundreds of angry students packed the meeting, voting down one motion proposed by the executives. This motion concerned the expulsion of certain multinational corporations for their purported criminal and war mongering activities abroad.
The executives immediately hit the snooze button, saying that they heard what students had to say, but would continue pressing ahead with their own agenda.
Within days, the alarm started ringing again. This time, it was an uproar over the union agenda, amplified by unusually intense attention from the mainstream media and other parties.
These latest events only underscore how out of touch some of our elected representatives are.
At least there are some positive developments to report on this front. The CSU council of representatives decided it would impose new guidelines upon the executives for the publishing of texts and newsletters. These will now have to be screened by the council first. There is also news of a recall campaign against the executives. These are encouraging first signs for restoring faith in the political structure at Concordia.
In a sense, we really do deserve the government we voted for: only about 10 per cent of the student population voted in last year’s general election. Let the current mess be a lesson for our voting patterns in the future.
Students shouldn’t only care about student politics when decisions and campaigns make them angry. They should be present all the time, constantly reminding our elected representatives who’s really in charge: students themselves.
