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:
