Letters to the Editor

Commuter angered by House decision to dissolve committee

The House of Student Representatives dissolved the Commuter Concerns Committee Tuesday, a committee that represented more than half of the student body. Commuter representatives were shocked and upset. But Milton Daniel Residence Hall representative Chris Mattingly, a resident who supported the motion, said that since House represents all students, commuters are represented in every SGA committee.

Someone should ask Mattingly why the Residential Concerns Committee wasn’t also dissolved. Since House represents all students, residents are represented in every committee as well. The fact that the commuter committee was dissolved and the residential committee remains, clearly demonstrates a double standard in SGA representation.

It is time that the student body recognizes why commuters aren’t active in SGA: Commuters are not apathetic about student government, student government is apathetic about them.

— Morgan Landry, junior computer information systems major

Don’t complain, get up and do something to improve House

About half of our representatives this semester in the House of Student Representatives are commuter students. They have been hardworking members of our organization. When it came time to evaluate the Adhoc committees of commuter concerns and residential concerns, which according to our constitution must be done at the end of this semester, the majority voiced that commuter concerns, as it stands, is inefficient and that many of the concerns that commuters have, such as parking, can be directed to the committee that already combats those issues. Dissolving the Adhoc Commuter Concerns Committee doesn’t mean that we have dissolved commuter concerns altogether.

Also, the Residential Concerns Committee is different because obviously when students live on campus they have far more living concerns that should be addressed in a separate committee, and not in the University Affairs Committee. Not to say that commuters do not have commuting concerns, but those issues can be addressed within other committees.

If we find, however, that the commuter population in House decides that it wants an Adhoc Commuter Concerns Committee again, we can vote on making another. It just came time to solidify standing committees. Perhaps it needs more time as an Adhoc committee?

Since everyone is so concerned about House, they should come to a meeting. I sure haven’t seen many people come and see what the thing they rip in the newspaper is all about. Anyone can speak at House in an organized way. I dare you. I dare you to come and make a difference instead of trying to make an organization’s efforts fail.

So, who is really apathetic? Maybe it is the people who sit around and tear up the reputation of an organization they know nothing about or understand. Maybe it is those who would rather destroy than construct. There are some people in the world that are so pessimistic that they would like to see everything fail. House has done a lot of great things this semester. Just ask the reps. We are proud of our organization, and we want to see it grow more and more next semester as we find better ways to let others know what we are doing. We need your help and support, not your apathetic negativity.

— Amy Render, sophomore marketing major and vice president of the House of Student Representatives

Put your money where your mouth is, attend SGA events

As an active member of SGA, I would like to think that efforts have been made to improve the status of Student Government Association as a whole. Students complaints are endless about how little SGA does, and how they never see their $20 put into action. Have any of these whiners recently been to see a band play in the Student Center Lounge (including Tiffany and local bands), been to Holocaust Remembrance Week or are planning to go to “The Real World” speaker? Students say over and over that they want to see a big concert, but they aren’t willing to pay a larger SGA fee.

SGA is not ineffective. It shouldn’t be the job of the 20 people in the SGA office to constantly beg students to come to events and various meetings. Students don’t ever stop by the office to share ideas or even give complaints. Students that feel that SGA is ineffective should re-evaluate their statement and get involved. You can choose to be apathetic, but don’t complain about the results that you get and ask where your measly $20 goes. If students are going to complain, find something worthwhile.

If you want to see SGA changed do something about it besides complaining about what SGA isn’t doing.

— Lauren Morton, sophomore social work major
Editor’s Note: Tiffany played as part of a promotional tour free of charge to TCU.

Newspaper should lead increase of diversity awareness by example

A few weeks ago the Skiff, denounced the student body for their lack of involvement in issues of diversity on campus. It said the student body should join organizations and meet people of different cultures in order to gain a more global experience. But there is a problem with this editorial. You as the school’s daily newspaper, you don’t follow your own standards. How dare you criticize the student body for their lack of involvement, when the Skiff itself continually leaves out coverage of minority events and programs on campus that attempt to promote cultural awareness. Did you know, for example, that TCU hosted the Third Minority Leadership Banquet Friday? And did you know that at the banquet, many of the minority organizations, advisors, faculty, sororities and fraternities were awarded for their contribution toward cultural awareness on the TCU campus? And did you know that about 20 high school seniors were awarded full TCU scholarships? Of course you didn’t know, and neither will the student body. Why? Because it wasn’t covered in the Skiff. So, the Skiff has no right to condemn the student body for their apathy when the Skiff itself doesn’t participate or cover the minority events and programs that occur on campus.

— Brittany Filewood, senior chemistry major and vice-president of the International Student Association

Editorial policy: The content of the Opinion page does not necessarily represent the views of Texas Christian University. Unsigned editorials represent the view of the TCU Daily Skiff editorial board. Signed letters, columns and cartoons represent the opinion of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board.

Letters to the editor: The Skiff welcomes letters to the editor for publication. Letters must be typed, double-spaced, signed and limited to 250 words. To submit a letter, bring it to the Skiff, Moudy 291S; mail it to TCU Box 298050; e-mail it to skiffletters@tcu.edu or fax it to 257-7133. Letters must include the author’s classification, major and phone number. The Skiff reserves the right to edit or reject letters for style, taste and size restrictions.