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| Apathy threatens SUM |
by Brian Campbell
Assistant Editor |
Columbia’s new student government, the Student Union Movement (SUM) is attracting little interest, with only a handful of students attending meetings. SUM Vice President Erica Ashburn, doubts if there is a need for it. “Students will still complain about problems not getting answered,” said Ashburn, speaking at a Student Organizations Council (SOC) meeting.
“We have a government now, let’s keep it up,” said SOC Vice Chair Reina Alvarez. SOC Chair and SUM President David Blumenthal admitted that turnouts were disappointing. “Are we trying to sell a hamburger to a vegetarian?”
He said students would rather go to class and go home than get involved in student bodies. Alvarez said she would like to dismiss the idea that student apathy is related to Columbia’s commuter college status.
It was suggested that the SUM meetings should directly succeed the SOC meetings, which take place on Thursdays at 3:30 p.m., so that SOC members can stay for both.
Apathy is rife in Columbia. D’nese Fung, president of the Chronic Illness/Injury and Pain Support Organization, said students do not know that half of the organizations exist. “I didn’t know about anything on campus, unless a piano was dropped on my head.”
SOC chair Blumenthal agreed and said that coordinating student organizations is like “reinventing the wheel every September.”
Blumenthal welcomed everyone to take part in SUM. “If schedules are a problem, talk to us.” He said SUM needs to know what students want, and pre-registration surveys can only show this to a degree.
He also said that SUM and SOC are two separate groups and denied that there is a conflict of interests in being the head of both, saying it occured because no one else wants the job.
“Anyone who thinks I should not be president [of SUM] is cordially invited to stand against me,” he said.
In other business, Ricky Varice was re-elected as the SOC Parliamentarian, while D’nese Fung was elected treasurer.
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