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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1988)
pathway? A&M, he says, it’s everywhere. Running for election among apathetic voters at A&M is the same as running for an election anywhere, Mauro says. He says candidates, regardless of their political arenas, must create messages alluring enough to attract apathetic voters. While Student Government is good experience and members should work hard at it, they should also have fun, Mauro says. “Don’t take it near as seriously as you are, ” he advises, “because it’s not. It’s such a joke now that I look back at it and laugh. ” However, Mauro says Student Government issues seemed serious when he was involved. Like everything else, it’s relative, he says. The large number of former A&M students who are now involved in Texas government, what Mauro jokingly calls the “Aggie mafia, ” seems a coincidence, but Sims has an explanation. Sims says he commonly finds that people involved in state or national politics were once involved in Student Government. It’s natural, he says. A lot of people who get involved in Student Government like politics, so they remain in politics. But not all former Student Government members became politicians. And most of those that did also have careers in the the private sector, often as attorneys or in the real estate business. David Alders says his 1984-85 term as student body president taught him people-management and organization skills that help him in his job as marketing representative for the retail and development division of Trammell Crow Company. “Student Government was, in a way, a graduate course in people management,” Alders says. “It’s a really neat leadership laboratory for our college students. ” Student Government participation also helps students build relationships with their superiors, he says. “Student Government gives you the unique ability to tap into the administration of the University,” Alders says. “It gives you a first hand view of the powers that be in the University.” Because Student Government has no inherent power, members must develop good relationships with administrators and gain their confidence, he says. A&M’s Student Government does a better job of this than other schools, Alders says. He says the administration’s receptivness combined with the mature, Govemmerit makes A&M’s Student Government more effective than those of other schools. Radicalism, though a common route for students on other campuses, is not the way to get things done, he says. A&M’s Student Government has had more voice and more authority than other Student Governments that have had more press coverage, Alders says. A&M’s emphasis on the undergraduate student and on extra curricular participation is another reason for the effectiveness of Student Government, Alders says. Barbara Bell, chairman for the Conference on Student Government Associations, says Student Government offers more programming and chances for student participation than other Student Governments. At many colleges and universities, Student Governments focus solely on legislative activities, she says. Although Student Government has more than 400 members, Tom Black, Academic Affairs Committee chairman, says Student Government still needs more student involvement. He says if more people were made aware of what Student Government does, more would want to be involved. And Black says that increased membership is important in any organization. Hogan says A&M’s Student C3ox/erT'vrT\eYVt Vveis ari eidv/eirvteige ov/e.r those oi other schoots because A&M students care about what they do. A&M tends to attract the cream of the crop, he says. While many schools offer their officers financial benefits, from free tuition to cash, A&M’s student body officers work voluntarily, Hogan says. A&M students can also turn to sympathetic groups, such as Aggies’ Mothers Clubs and the Association of Former Students, who will listen to their complaints and suggestions, he says. Hogan says a lot of problems are solved by “Old Ags” with the students’ interests at heart before they ever become a controversy or reach Student Government. Most Student Governments don’t have that outside help, he says. Hogan says Student Government’s one big problem is probably shared by every other school — students feeling they don’t have a voice in what happens at the University. Fortunately, Hogan says, A&M students haven’t had many conflicts with the administration. And Student Government, unlike student governments at other schools, hasn’t felt the need to dig for trouble. “Students haven’t gotten a raw deal at A&M, ” he says. But recently, senior finals, computer service fees, service fee allocation disputes and the new faculty lounge has kept Student Government busy, Hogan says. preparedi to cte.ei\ wvtV\ tV\oso TproVAems now than previously, be says. “We’ve fixed ourselves,” he says. No longer are members spending time complementing each other’s blue suits, yellow ties and khaki pants, Hogan says. He says members are really working hard, not for their egos or resumes, but for the school that has solved a lot of internal problems. “Everybody’s on an even keel, in that we’re all pushing for the same thing, ” Hogan says. Student Government is fighting an uphill battle when it conflicts with faculty or administration, Hogan says. Student Government’s officers change each year, and the students are never as experienced in dealing with administration as the administration is in dealing with students. But that, too, is a problem in other universities and colleges. Hogan says a combined student and faculty senate might be an advantage for students, even if the faculty would have a slight majority. Not only could it save time, but student proposals would probably be taken more seriously, he says. When it comes to changing administration policy in the students’ favor, Student Government may not always succeed, but, considering the odds, it puts up a good fight, Hogan says. “We’re as effective as anybody, ” he says.