Editorial: I can’t talk to you when you’re like this

There is no question that the current executive of the Concordia Student Union care about their jobs. They do. They clearly demonstrated their dedication and passion these first few weeks of the school year, despite some significant challenges.

There is, however, room for major improvement regarding communication and transparency, and now is the time for that change to take place.

The eight students voted into office last year, amid controversy and confusion over registration and eligibility, have been there tirelessly working to make Orientation happen. They personally served drinks to more than one of us (who was that behind the bar at The Hive handing over free booze? It was VP Loyola), they set up collapsible tables and chairs (shout out to VP Advocacy and VP Sustainability), they plugged in sound equipment and they did their best to usher drunk students, new and returning, on and off shuttle buses from one campus to the other.

There is no doubt that they are busy and they are trying. What they need to do now that the Orientation nightmare has ended, is focus on the areas they have most definitely been neglecting.

The CSU has a lot on its plate at any given time, but being available to answer questions and clarify the weekly and even daily product of the Concordia rumour mill is a priority which the CSU executive as a whole appears to have lost sight of.

While last week executives may have had perfectly valid excuses not to return phone calls for five days, or completely ignore emails and interview requests, those excuses are now all spent. We are tired of waiting patiently for our needs to be met and we, as members of the student press, are not the only ones.

With the end of Orientation and the first CSU council meeting approaching, the team should be trying to make up for lost time and make amends for the lack of transparency they have shown thus far. They have a responsibility to not only the undergraduate student population in general, but to their elected council, who will most likely be coming to the table this Wednesday with more than a few questions in mind.

People say that Concordia students don’t care about campus politics, but we think they do. They do care very much when they don’t get what they want. What we want are answers, and if our questions are not given due care, if the responses are vague and unreassuring, and if students feel they cannot rely on their CSU to be there when they have concerns, then the problem goes beyond mere availability.

There is no question that these executives care about their jobs. If they want to keep their jobs, we suggest they clean up their act before they are left without any excuses to hide behind.

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