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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1988)
Student Government: A stepping stone on the political By Lawson Reilly With over 400 members, it is one of the largest organizations at Texas A&M. Among other things, it programs the Big Event, the Aggie Blood Drive, Muster and the Conference on Student Government Associations. Whoops, gave it away. It’s Texas A&M’s Student Government. Last spring, during Student Government elections, some controversy arose over whether Student Government was good for anything other than its members’ resumes. In fact, one presidential candidate actually based his campaign on the intention of abolishing Student Government if it proved unworthy of continued existence. . Student Government’s record, however, points toward worthiness, not worthlessness. In addition to allocating student service fees and organizing programs such as Muster and the Big Event, the students’ voice has worked to make several administration decisions more favorable to students. Recent campaigns have included modifying the senior finals schedule and trying to prevent the conversion of the Rudder Tower dining room into a faculty lounge. But the advantages of Student Government extend beyond what the organization does for the A&M student body as a whole. Student Body President Mason Hogan says Student Government offers students the same opportunities as most campus organizations, but on a broader spectrum. It gives students a chance to follow, a chance to lead and a chance to leam from their mistakes. Extra-curricular activities broaden students’ perspectives, Hogan says. He says they give students a chance to show off their inherent virtues and strengths to others, the sort of qualities that don’t show up in a transcript. Mistakes can be made in extra curricular activities without catastrophic consequences, Hogan says. He says it’s better to mess up a $200 dollar budget now than a $3 million budget later. Some Student Government leaders use their college experience as a springboard for future political careers. Mike Sims, special assistant to Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, says he gained the ability to coordinate several activities at once during his 1986-87 term as A&M student body president. As Bentsen’s travel aide, Sims says he must keep up with when and where the senator should be at all times, a task involving lots of coordination. “In Student Government you leam not to lose your cool,” he says, “to keep your head about you when everyone else is losing theirs. ” Sims says he meets many prominent people in his work. Since most are older than himself, a graduate fresh out of college, he says they often wonder what he is doing in a position with so much responsibility. “A lot of times they doubt the competence of a younger person,” he says. Student Government gave him the opportunity to work closely with older people in a professional atmosphere, Sims says. He says his work with President Frank Vandiver, the Board of Regents and faculty members prepared him for the professional world. Sims says he reached his current position not because he was better qualified than others but because he had the opportunity in Student Government to meet important people and to show them firsthand he has what it takes. Fred McClure, A&M student body president from 1975 to 1976, worked in Washington, D.C., as former Sen. John Tower’s legislative director prior to becoming Texas Air’s staff vice president of government affairs. McClure says that while Student Government doesn’t mirror national politics, it teaches skills applicable in his current role as a lobbyist. “1 had the opportunity to take disparate views on a number of issues and help lead and guide people in the decision-making process to come to a compromise and, ultimately, get something done,” he says. Student Government is in a cocoon, restricted to campus, he says. For that reason, involvement in Student Government isn’t preparatory for professional politics, other than in developing personal skills, McClure says. Nonetheless, the stakes in Student Government issues, like those in national issues, are important to the people involved, he says. Gerald Geistweidt, A&M student body president from 1969 to 1970, is serving his 5th term as representative for the 67th District of Texas. Campaigning at Texas A&M is similar to campaigning in an urban district, Geistweidt says. But the 67th District is rural, requiring different tactics, he says. Still, Geistweidt says Student Government was a stepping stone to his political career. He says he used the same political tools when he campaigned for student body president as when he campaigned for representative. For instance, Geistweidt says, he needed to develop a nucleus of supporters, essential in any campaign, to win the presidential election at A&M. He agrees with Sims that Student Government is also a good place to make contacts and leam how to make good impressions. “It gives you a chance to rub shoulders with other influential people,” Geistweidt says. Sen. Kent Caperton of the 5th District of Texas says he learned to budget his time while serving as A&M student body president from 1970 to 1971. He says Student Government gave him experience in decision making, policy formulation and leadership. But most importantly, he says, it gave him a lot of friends. There are many present politicians who gained important leadership experience in college even though they were not student body presidents. Michael O’Quinn helped start A&M’s Legislative Study Group in 1982, and served as its administrative director from 1985 to 1986. Besides helping him get his current job at Sen. Phil Gramm’s office in Dallas, he says his involvement in LSG gave him valuable political insight and helped him develop contacts. Like Caperton, O’Quinn says friends are also one of the advantages of Student Government. When Garry Mauro ran the “toughest political race” of his career, trying to be elected in 1968 as the first non-reg yell leader since the 1950s, Tom Henderson was his campaign manager. Today the two still work together. Mauro is the Texas Land Commissioner and Henderson is his special assistant. Henderson, who was also involved in Student Government, says the organization introduced him to a network of friends, many of whom he still works with today. Student Government experience helps in any type of work, he says. “You leam how to work with other people in a legislative environment, ” Henderson says. Mauro says Student Government teaches people how to deal with frustration. Student Government is expected to accomplish things, he says, without any real power. However, overcoming the frustation and managing to get something done in Student Government is part of a hardening process, Mauro says. “You’re hell when you get into real office,” he says. When he was junior yell leader, Mauro says members of Student Government complained about student apathy. But apathy isn’t just at TUDENT RNMENT TEXAS A&M UN'IVERSITY Paee 8/At Fas£/Tbjirs^v.Ma*cJ}