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Show OPINIONS 03.01.2010 •<:'•• tacking the deck, ANDYSHERWtN Asst. Opinions editor "Let your voice be heard," the main UVU Student Government Web site declares. "Help make a difference on UVU's campus." But what is the process by which someone can get involved? One of the best ways to do so is to apply for an appointed position within the UVUSA Student Council. While certain student government positions are elected by the student body, the vast majority are appointed by what's called the Executive Council. What comprises this authoritative body? The Executive Council, currently headed up by Student Body President Trevor Tooke, is comprised of seven students filling seven positions; in addition to Mr. Tooke, there is an Executive Vice President, a Vice President of Academics, and a Vice President of Student Life (the three of which are elected by the student body), a Vice President of Clubs that is elected by the clubs themselves, and two appointed assistants to the Student Body President. The other 25 appointed Student Government positions, including Academic Senators, MAWL president, Fine Arts chair, etc., are not part of the process. While the Executive Council is chosen democratically through student body elections, the committee that enforces election rules, cleverly named the Election Committee, is not facilities damage chosen democratically, but, according deposit" that each to Section II Article C of the UVUSA party is required to Constitution, by the Student Body Presi- pay when applying. The dent alone. By extension, the appointed deposit will be returned positions are filled not according to the • only "If the Election Comdesires of the students, but by the poten- mittee decides that the party tial biases of the student body president. has cleaned up appropriately." The student body having a lack of direct Again, the Committee is given influence on a process that so directly uncontrolled power with nothing concerns them is disconcerting. in place to protect from abuse. It is not that we UVU students do not In addition, candidates are told to "conduct themselves have an interest in student government in an ethical and honest and who is part of it. According to Phil way," but that "Any Clegg, the Assistant Dean of Student [ethical] violation Life, the national average for student may penalize the body participation in student governcandidate involved, ment/council elections is around 4-5 with or without percent, while the average at UVU has substantial evibeen, in recent years, from 9.5 percent dence proving one to as high as 17 percent, and Clegg said party at fault." The that the administration is still working Committee's ability to to increase that number. The efforts of do as they please knows no Clegg and others who have pushed for increased participation in these elections bounds. have clearly helped. Perhaps the most seriBut efforts can only go so far when ous concern, however, is the there are also issues of a ridiculously complete lack of information unfair consolidation of power. Accordabout the system and the process ing to the UVUSA Campaign Rules, that supports it. Aside from the any "Donated money or items may be minimal information contained contributed to a party's campaign if first in the Student Council applicaapproved by the Election Committee tion packet, there seems to be [emphasis in original]. Donated items very little information available will be considered at fair market price on the UVU Web site. For some(retail or wholesale) and will apply thing that has such a strong—and towards the candidates spending limit. student fee-subsidized—influence Verification and final say of all values on our college experience, why the both bought and/or donated are at the unavailability? If the process is supdiscretion of the Election Committee." posed to be fair and unbiased, how Since the value of accepted donations is can Trevor Tooke, Student Body chosen by a potentially biased Election President and member of the' Committee before being added to a can- Executive Council AND Elecdidate's spending limit, those limits can tion Committee, get away easily be stilted to handicap a candidate with being a Facebook fan of that could be a former opponent or a Team Elevate? personal enemy, allowing for a deeply We deserve to know murky ethical quagmire. more. And we deserve to not have to ask. The virtually unlimited power of the Election Committee also extends to the mandatory "$200 refundable clean-up/ Photo illustrations by Me rind a Davis/ UVU Review No talk about sex means no talk about safe sex DAVID SELF NEWLIN Opinions editor The Utah Legislature gave us the best possible description of how Utahans approach sex - absolute silence. On Feb. 22, the state Senate sat without a peep for several minutes waiting for someone to make a motion to hear SB54, a bill related to sex education in Utah. No one made a motion, and the bill is now dead. The term related is necessary because the bill would have changed nothing about how sex-ed is approached in Utah - it would only have allowed teacfiers to act according to the law without fear. AJs it stands now, high school teachers, when giving that lesson which haunts every incoming freshman's nightmares, can talk about contraceptives with parental consent, but not advocate their use in any way. So, for instance a teacher could say, "Your parents told me that I could tell you that condoms exist," but not "You should use a condom so no one gets pregnant or an STD, because either of those things would be bad, you idiot." At all times, the teacher must stress that abstinence is the only sure-fire way to avoid pregnancy or STDs. Rape, needle exchange, passage from parent to child, and several other methods of transference don't suddenly just go away because we live in an abstinence-only state. But that's neither here nor there. SB54 would not have changed sex-ed so much as it would have clarified that teachers can't be fired or reprimanded for simply talking about contraceptives. As things stand now, many teachers don't mention them at all, even by way of explanation, for fear of being accused of encouraging thenuse. SB54 would not let teachers do anything that is not already absolutely legal. Here's some simple logic - many UVU students were once students at Utah's high schools. Many UVU students will begin to actively have sex in college, far more so than when they were in high school. Many UVU students learned little or nothing about safe sex while in high school. Ergo, at least some UVU students who have sex, either because they planned it or because they succumbed to temptation, will do it without proper knowledge of how to make it safe as sex is likely to begin. High school education matters more than just academically. Of course, there are many more ways to learn about safe sex than from a high school teacher. Parents, of course, should have a huge role, and teens learn much from their immediate friends. Information about safe sex is available online from various reputable sources as well. But will every teenager walk up to a parent too embarrassed to talk about sex and ask for guidance? DAVE IBA/ UVU Review Certainly trolling possible. around on the This is not an accident, Internet for good advice but rather a failure on the on sex is perhaps less than part of legislators. It is here, advisable as well. in college, where either Mandatory and less responsible or irresponsible restricted high school sex-ed is the only way to make sure that students at our university are provided the best possible chance to act responsibly. It is absolutely true that Utah's teen pregnancy rate and STD rate are low compared to the national average. But this has less to do with abstinence education than with the stigma and difficulty attached to sexuality among unmarried (and sometimes even married) individuals. Fear of being an outcast is a potent, if barbaric, force. SB54 may have done nothing more for sex-ed than to make teachers more comfortable with the subject than the embarrassed students they are teaching. But we are so far behind that even this would have been a step in the right direction. Too bad the most our supposedly adult legislators could muster was awkward silence. |