The Newsletter: Accountability at its finest
Campus Times
November 7, 1997
It came last week, a little before Homecoming, a small green pamphlet
named simply, The Newsletter: Student Government Propaganda at its Finest.
It entered the student population at the Associated Student Federation (ASF)
Forum's most newsworthy time, Homecoming.
Not only did the newsletter cover one of their most largest sponsored
events, it did a biography on ULV President Stephen Morgan that did not
concentrate on what he is doing now but instead took a fresh new look on
how he was during his college years. And surprisingly it also listed the
yearly expenses of the Forum for all the student body to see.
As students pored over the newsletter that arrived to them via mailbox,
I heard many of my fellow students become angry at the cost of Homecoming,
which is only a week-long event as they thought of hundreds of ideas that
the Forum could be spending their money on instead.
In this sense, the newsletter has then served its purpose. By sparking
up reaction from the public it is truly, "student government propaganda
at its finest."
The Forum has now opened itself up for criticism. It will be expected
to answer the questions that arise from students on why do we spend so much
on Homecoming? What really is the attendance and is it actually worth the
$12,000?
Smiling to myself I became proud of the Forum for sticking its business
out for everyone to see. It shows that they are a mature organization willing
to take responsibility for their actions and can be held accountable to
the student body.
Not only did it offer information regarding Homecoming events and its
budget, but it was a freshly written newsletter with stories written in
third person, laced with opinions and comical satire. I hope to see more.
The best form of the checks and balances system is when an organization
takes it upon itself to prepare that balance. Instead of trying to horde
their plans away as if it was some devilish plots this year's ASF Forum
has been good this year at welcoming a Campus Times reporter to sit
in on weekly meetings and even offering the student body to give, as stated
in the newsletter, "feedback, positive or negative."
A daring proposition from an organization that has taken its fair share
of heat from the student body and Campus Times and has lashed out
because of some of it.
Campus Times gave students the "ASF Minutes" where
we published a weekly report of the happenings in the ASF meetings. We will
continue to do so even with the arrival of the newsletter, but the newsletter
will allow students to get an in depth look at what committees are doing
from their point of view and read a different version of an event from those
who worked hard to put it on.
This is the first newsletter attempt by ASF and a noble one. If continued,
it will offer an entirely different flavor to the campus. The ASF Forum
members, who are remaining nameless for now, are asking for all sorts of
donations from the students they seem determined to cater too. Such things
like story contributions, recipes, short stories, haikus, advice and any
general information were requested in the newsletter.
If this actually works, the Forum will have the capability to represent
the actual student body as a whole through its newsletter. By opening it
as a public forum for people to send in entries, students who may not like
a Forum sponsored event will still have a way to express themselves and
use some of that $90 activity fee in paper and ink.
LaShanda D. Maze, a junior broadcast journalism major, is managing
editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at mazel@ulv.edu.
