By Matthew Clyburn
In a move that has drawn mixed emotions from students, Student Government Association Senator Ryan Baldassario put a motion forward that, if passed, would change the way CCSU students are represented on the SGA Senate.
The motion would remove two representative positions from both residents and commuters and add four at-large senators in their place, creating a total of ten at-large senators, 14 commuter representatives, and six resident representatives.
While some students prefer the current 2-to-1 ratio in favor of commuter representatives, others felt that it should be more evenly balanced. Calvin McFarlane, a commuter, likes the idea of more balance, saying no one student’s views should be more important than any others.
“I don’t like the idea of anyone having more say, it should be more even,” said McFarlane. “I would definitely vote for that motion to be passed, if residents and commuters have two different points of views they should both be heard.”
Others disagreed, saying as long as the CCSU is mostly comprised of commuters, then this should also stay true in the SGA.
“It should stay the way it is now and still reflect the CCSU population,” said Prachi Desai, also a commuter. “I would vote against that motion, it’s setup the way it is now for a reason.”
Resident student Rachel Smithson disagrees. She said representation should not be one-sided, no matter how many more commuters attend the University.
“It doesn’t matter how many commuters there are at the school, this is something that should have happened a while ago,” said Smithson. “Everyone should be a part of the school, especially residents. We’re the ones who live here every day.”
The idea behind the motion is that there are more CCSU residents who want to participate in the SGA Senate. The solution to this, as proposed by Baldassario’s motion, would be to open up more seats that are available to whoever chooses to be involved.
Historically, campus residents tend to fit that description.
Richard Estrada, a resident, says the exact opposite should be true. He said that if commuters aren’t showing as much initiative as residents, then taking positions away from them is not going to help at all.
“When you think about it, we all pay fees and a tuition. If commuters aren’t getting involved enough, this isn’t a solution,” said Estrada. “Just because someone lives here it doesn’t mean they don’t have just as much right to this school as everybody.”
While at-large senators represent both commuters and residents, some students find that the positions are often heavily dominated by residents. Ian Gordon, a commuter, feels that not only may this be true, it can also be used as an advantage to support ideas that may only be felt by residents.
“It should be kept the way it is,” Gordon said. “I see it totally possible that if there were a majority within [the SGA Senate] then that could be used to their advantage.”
Most students seemed to either be for or against this motion, but a third opinion was expressed by one student who said this isn’t an issue and shouldn’t be made into one. Andrew Walsh, currently a commuter who used to reside on campus, says all students would mostly have the same views whether they live here or not.
“A student is a student, they’ll have the same concerns as everyone else,” said Walsh. It’s like making false parties out of nothing, I will not vote for or against this because I believe not a single thing would change if this were passed. Come talk to me when they’re trying to get non-students on the SGA, then we’ll have something to worry about.”
Samantha D’Amato, a commuter, couldn’t disagree more.
“I do believe that if there were more residential students on the board then they might favor themselves over the commuters because I don’t think that the students really take into consideration that there are many more students that commute rather than live on campus,” said D’Amato. “They will probably favor themselves because they are the students that are on campus 24-seven.”
With such divided views, one can’t help but wonder what the outcome will be when it comes time to vote. If the motion passes, it will be brought to referendum in the special elections in early October.