I am disappointed in the Student Senate for their increase of a stipend they voted for in a secret ballot on Dec. 11 last year. Were the Senators hurting for money that bad that they needed to increase their pay, while also declaring that their budget was tight? Obviously the budget wasn’t that tight since they were able to increase the stipend to $200! Was it necessary for the Senators to collate in secret for their own personal gain? I don’t believe it was.

The budget also wasn’t tight enough since $640 was allocated for CRU members to attend a winter conference. Was this necessary? It shouldn’t have been, considering the use of public funds for religious endeavors should have been paid by those individuals attending the event.

To me, there is nothing wrong with students attending, as well as representing SMSU, but the funds to attend should not come from the body that represents all the students. Especially when you take into consideration that the conference will be not benefiting the students as a whole; the benefits are concentrated to CRU members only, while the cost is distributed and affects everyone at SMSU.

Another point of contention that I have towards the representatives, whom of which I voted for, is their failure to act on the request from The Spur for an app to be used by students, faculty, alumni, and community members to receive the news. They dared to ask if it is necessary; is it necessary to read the news? Is it necessary to have students informed of what is happening on their
campus, which they pay good money to be enrolled?

Considering the secrecy of the increased stipend ballot, I would assume the Senate doesn’t find the needs of knowing what is going on necessary. I would encourage the Senators to look into why they choose to become elected leaders and representatives since what they are doing is quite the opposite of leading and representing. I would also encourage those to resign if they cannot find a reason besides personal and professional gain to hold a position like that.

The Senator position should be used for the benefit and enrichment of the educational experience of the students, not to just be used to polish up one’s resume.