About 45 minutes into Monday night’s board meeting, two student government leaders—Kalin and Travis—presented Saddleback College’s Associated Student Government (SCASG’s) proposed budget for 2008-9. It's about a million bucks. (To see the presentation, go here.)As they waited to speak, Kalin and Travis looked pretty damned cute. Absurdly so. And they came with a crew of enthusiastic supporters, all of them wearing red shirts. No apathy there!
Alas, as you know, several trustees were unhappy with ASG's proposed budget. To the trustees, the budget did not seem to give much of value back to students. The board wanted to see a super-sized value meal, and all they were getting was a mush-ball of stale french fries.
As board president Don "Blunt Boy" Wagner put it, “[Your budget] gives some money to forensics, and it gives some money to the surfing team meals, and it gives some money to the ‘ride the wave’ early bird orientation…—[but, dagnabit] that’s not where the rubber meets the road for students!”
The kids in the room were plainly horrified. They gaped. They were instructed to go back to the drawing board. They marched out of the building in single file, like Republicans, little red states.
But even apart from the "mush-ball" problem, I’ve gotta say that, for me, the students’ presentation was weird. So odd were Kalin and Travis’ bearing and their odd celebrity among their twenty or so red-shirted supporters, that, for once, the adults in the room were transfixed.
And amused? And charmed? And horrified? All of the above, I think.
Speaking for myself, there was something positively creepy going on. It had something to do with these self-important leaders’ relationships to their student supporters. Well, judge for yourself. (You really should see it.)
ASG President Kalin K: …I am so pleased to be with you this evening to present our budget …I came to Saddleback College expecting to make the most of my experience by getting involved…I feel very well grounded in the fact that I will be a leader, prepared to serve my fellow citizens no matter what career path I choose. My Saddleback College experience solidified this foundation and gives me the confidence to pursue my life goals. As members of ASG, we devote our time to serving our fellow students. I therefore benefit from this program in a variety of ways as both a student and as a student leader ... I know that the single greatest motivation for all of us has always been serving our peers by supporting student success… Thank you for you time and your consideration. [Student applause.]
ASG Treasurer Travis F: ...I first want to thank my contingent of supporters here… [They applaud.] It is truly you guys who make ASG tick, and without your participation and efforts, we wouldn’t be anywhere… That being said, my name is Travis... …First, I really want to emphasize that we do administer a very substantial budget…at times this can be an incredibly difficult and daunting process—yet, for all its difficulties, it is still immensely rewarding. I know that, as I pursue my career and my goals that I will be able to draw upon this experience and really use it in my quest for success.
The overarching goal of student government is student development. … We feel that it is our responsibility to really encourage our students’ intellectual ambitions and I think this budget reflects that. …We funded $965,000 of requests….…[Sighs heavily.] And lastly I would just like to emphasize the amount of time and effort that went into formulation of this budget. Every decision was hashed out in great detail and great collaboration, and throughout this process we knew acutely what was at stake and that is the welfare of the students at Saddleback College, and as leaders, it is our responsibility to treat any matter and every matter with integrity, accountability, and transparency, and this budgetary process was no different. …At the beginning of the year, …President Todd Burnett came to one of our senate meetings and spoke about how we might go about leaving a legacy here at Saddleback College and we discussed this a few times in the past month and for me personally I don’t think that our legacy will be left[?] by how many students—or the growth and development of leaders within student government. That is important, but it is secondary. It is not about us, and it never has been [Um, who thought it was?]; rather, our legacy will be left by how efficiently we allow our students to succeed here at Saddleback College and pursue their ambitions and achieve what they need to achieve in order to have a successful life, and if we can have even one student find his or her true calling, or overcome some obstacle that has previously prevented their success, then I think that we have already left an impressive legacy and one we can all take a tremendous amount of pride in…. [Students applaud enthusiastically.]
I don't want to be too hard on these kids. I mean, it's only student government. And like Travis says, if only one kid--just one--gets a little encouragement, isn't spending that million bucks well worth it?
REESE WITHERSPOON EXPLAINS:
Tammy Metzler's speech:
13 comments:
i think they've been watching too many campaign speeches. i wish they would just get to the point and say what they wanted to say without acting like they were some local, smalltime politicians.
just my .02
A million bucks for one kid? Somebody ought to straighten these kids out.
If the Democratic House of Representatives sends to the Democratic Senate who then sends to the Republican President for a signature a crap sandwich of a $trillion+ bailout out bill for incompetent Wall Street types, there really isn't anything wrong with giving a million bucks to some kids to waste on whatevah.
Take it out to the lawn and set it on fire. Who cares?
I do not know what the board was looking for but that budget has a LOT of money going to PE & Fine Arts.
Micromanage much?
Isn't student government really a huge waste of resources that serves only the little clique who are involved?
There's some truth to that, I'm afraid. Some of the money goes to worthwhile activities. Much of it seems to be self-serving nonsense that looks good on a resume. The biggest problem is that the students take money fromstudents without giving much of it back. At the end of the year, these kids had a $207,000, which they spent. Why not lower the profit on book sales (a major revenue source for ASG)? This time, the trustees have a point.
Coming from someone who spent two years on ASG's senate (which is the "branch" who really decides where the money goes), all they do is waste their money.
You better believe Fine Arts and PE get money. In fact, they get SO MUCH of the money it's nearly impossible to delegate fairly to the rest of the groups/teams/people that come to us on a weekly basis.
Funny how both of those entities draw money into their own programs through outside sources.
While programs like film, languages, and the sciences tend to flounder due to lack of available funding...
i've posted on here before, and i hate repeating myself, but i feel i must. ASG is nothing more than a group of friends who make sure they get each other elected so it can be one giant kegger of a party on the students' dime.
Whre's the party man? If there's a keg, I'll be there!
I definitely "felt the weird," Chunk. I think I was feeling embarassed for them.
"And like Travis says, if only one kid--just one--gets a little encouragement, isn't spending that million bucks well worth it?"
And no, not so long as the possibility exists to encourage two or more kids with the same or less money. Which does exists. As Hannah put it, IVC is spending double the amount on scholarships, and Travis is bragging about a small "increase" in scholarship spending (Did Hannah say $3,000?), whilst throwing more of the money at his own interests (e.g. MUN).
Note, I'd wager that students benefit MOST from scholarships, and programs like the "book loaning" program. Which are freakin' fantastic, by the way.
What happened to my "turd in the pocket" comment?
"Isn't student government really a huge waste of resources that serves only the little clique who are involved?"
It sure is and YES! Why not allow students to opt-out when registering? Why is their education being held hostage to ASG fees? Students can get great book deals online. Anyone who buys a textbook from a school bookstore is an idiot.
Like someone else already said, they spend the money on themselves for food, entertainment, parties and trips. It's all self-serving. A million bucks? how dumb is that? Why not just give the ASG'ers their own plastic and cut them loose in a mall? Or better yet, drop them off at Fletcher Jones! Then they can show-off in their new Benz when they pull in to the parking lot.
I think it's time to do away with the student government extortive fee, and make it voluntary. How does that process begin?
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