I would like to respond to last week’s letter to the Editor, “SGA Elections need competition to serve students,”. I would first like to say that the author’s self proclaimed ignorance of Student Government’s procedures is somewhat amusing considering they themselves admit to coming to our weekly meetings. They could have easily educated themselves by obtaining our Constitution and By-Laws from our website, our office or one of our Senators on Tuesday night, something that would have enabled the author to write a more convincing piece.

Had they reviewed our Constitution, they would have discovered that the Rules Committee Chair and the President of SGA choose the members of the Elections Commission. After their selection, the chosen people need to be approved by our Senate. The author of this piece is clearly as ignorant of government procedures as they claim, as they seem to have no concept of Checks and Balances.

I would also like to address the author’s contention that Pete and Russell have an unfair advantage in terms of obtaining signatures. In addition to the author’s lack of knowledge about checks and balances, they don’t seem to have a very solid grasp of basic math. The candidates for President and Vice President need to obtain signatures from no less than 10% of the undergraduate population. That equals more than 800 signatures.

If Pete and Russell were to get the signature of every Senator who was allowed to sign (those not on the Elections Commission) it would come to no more than 60 signatures, which is .075% of the signatures they need…a laughable amount. It is also worth noting that both Pete and Russell are commuters.

If another ticket were to run (something I fully support) if even one of them lived in a residence hall, they could easily obtain signatures from 60 of their co-residents and abolish the “advantage” Pete and Russell apparently have.

The author’s statement about our “…blindness to the shady dealings that take place in the Student Government Office,” is something that I find ridiculous.

I have been on Senate for almost three semesters and delegated for almost an entire semester before that. I would contend that the Senate as a whole is the most united it has been at least as long as I’ve been involved, something that I credit to two main things: the environment Pete and Russell have created in our office and the enthusiasm and open mindedness of the new Senators who joined this year.

I would finally like to address that author’s belief that in May our year will “…draw to a pointless end,”. We have accomplished more this year than many thought this Cabinet and Senate could ever do: we have severely cut down on the amount of paper work clubs need to fill out, we have created a new committee solely devoted to raising more money for clubs, we streamlined the financial procedure for clubs, we increased the text book library, and we’ve passed more than 10 new clubs.

We’ve sponsored events like the Vagina Monologues and John Ashcroft’s visit last weeks, we’ve opened the lines of communication with Administrators, and we held a Club Congress, an event that in my opinion is the most uniting event that has been held in a long time. If that adds up to a “pointless year,” I challenge the author to tell us what he’s done this year, I’m interested to know.

I implore everyone who is voting this year to consider the strides made this year and to make an educated decision. Take a pro-active approach in your vote-come to the office, hang out and tell us what you want and need. We work for you, and the vast majority of us do it not to “pad our resumes” but because we love this University and its students.

I take great offense to last week’s author’s cowardice, and so I happily and respectfully sign my letter.

Kate Legnetti is the Ethics and Conduct Chair of Student Government Association.