Author Topic: Do you ever feel like you're being kept in the dark?  (Read 6206 times)

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Offline Sal Atticum

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Do you ever feel like you're being kept in the dark?
« on: January 30, 2008, 09:12:18 AM »
I've been doing some research of late on some of the actions of the student government and various committees here at UND.  Since it all involves official decisions made at recorded meetings, you would think that getting a copy of those minutes would be pretty easy to get.  The student government website has minutes listed for various committees, and has links to minutes from last year, up until about September for the ones I am interested in. There is always the option to go down to the Union and seek out the relevant office--I don't normally think that this is an imposition, but when the SG site claims to have the minutes and then doesn't keep them up to date, it really makes me wonder about how informed they really want students to be. 

No, I'm not accusing them of actual malice, but if you think about how hard normal students are going to work to get minutes that they don't really want to read, you understand that the difference between calling them up on a computer screen and walking down the the Union and talking to people is actually very large.  I'm lazy, you're lazy, and we all have better things to do, so holding on to an old system as the primary source for minutes, when the web is just a few clicks away (the minutes are transcribed and shared by email among members of the committee, as far as I am aware), shows poor recognition of the purpose of the minutes: to keep the student body informed of what happens at these meetings that deal with money we have provided and that we, as busy students, do not have the opportunity to attend every week.

I've dealt with student government meeting minutes as an Alumnus of my undergrad, and that wouldn't have happened if they weren't available online.  Because I was able to access these minutes online, I could form my own (unfiltered by the media) opinion of what happened, and make my own decision about what I should do about those actions.  It turns out that many alumni had the same experience, and we were able to subsequently add our voices to the voice of the student body and repeal what was not only an idiotic piece of legislation but a waste of students money on something that was not necessary.

If you've made it this far, you're pretty interested in the subject.  So tell your committee chairs, tell your student body president, tell your head of student orgs and tell your student government webmaster to be on the ball with those minutes.  An uninformed student body is a powerless student body, and we shouldn't have to be.

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Offline pmp6nl

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Re: Do you ever feel like you're being kept in the dark?
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2008, 11:19:02 PM »
Thanks for reminding me.  NDSU SG minutes are updated.
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Offline JakeJZG

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Re: Do you ever feel like you're being kept in the dark?
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2008, 05:50:50 PM »
I contacted Jay and he said he would look into it.
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