"During the last three or four meetings, there has been no agenda, in both senses of the word," said Mike Flood '03, an SGO member. "There has been no physical agenda sheet, and there hasn't been much discussed. I don't consider a list of announcements a productive meeting."
Several SGO members alleged that the officers are not fulfilling some of their primary responsibilities, including failing to introduce new issues at meetings and bringing speakers to the meetings to discuss issues of campus-wide concern.
SGO President Michelle Oliveros-Larsen '02 responded to these concerns. "It is not the Executive Board's responsibility to bring up issues. We tend to be the most involved people, and we have many specific responsibilities. I don't want to ask the members of the Executive Board to tackle any more issues," she said
Oliveros-Larsen added that she is involved with the Student Finance Committee (SFC), the E-Board, the College Council and the Student Senate. "The senators are supposed to represent their constituents, and it's just as much their responsibility to bring up issues," she said.
"I think it's a problem that we don't get agendas," said Stacey Kennard '03. "I think it's the combined responsibility of the Executive Board and the other members of the SGO to present issues. We should have an agenda if there's going to be a meeting."
In regard to the brief meetings, Oliveros-Larsen said that the organization is currently between issues. "The crew team investigation took a lot of time, and we're finishing that up. The next meeting, when we present the results, will last longer."
Other members of the Senate are not as concerned. "We've had a couple really quick, in-and-out meetings this semester, both due to a lack of new business to address," said Bob Razavi '03. "Part of the problem is initiative on the part of senate members, myself included. But bear in mind that, when meaningful student life issues do arise, senate members debate them and put relevant issues and resolutions to a vote."
Oliveros-Larsen added that the decision to hold Monday's meeting was made for various reasons, some of which were not readily apparent to those who thought the meeting should have been cancelled. "An outside speaker was supposed to present an issue for debate," she explained. "The speaker canceled at the last minute, but it was too late to cancel the meeting." It was also the first meeting that the recently elected SGO members were scheduled to attend.
Some SGO members expressed concern that the issues the organization deemed important at the beginning of the year are not being addressed.
"One major issue we planned to work hard on this year that hasn't been addressed at all is parking. Another is free phones for students. I was supposed to be on the phone committee, but it was never formed," said Eric Osborne '04.
SGO Recording Secretary Zeeya Jamal '02 disputed claims that attendance is a problem at meetings. "We're trying to firm up our attendance policy. At this point in the year a lot of people get really busy with work, and it's easy to let the SGO slide. We're reminding people that that's not OK," she said.
Jamal reminded members at the meeting of the attendance policy, which states that members must notify her three days in advance if they cannot attend a meeting. Members are only excused from meetings in cases of true emergencies, as determined by Jamal. Aside from emergencies, members are allowed two absences per semester before they are expelled from of the SGO. Jamal plans to notify those who will be removed from the SGO if they miss another meeting.
"A lot of people missed roll call because they were late today, but they did come. It hasn't been a problem this year, but last year we did kick people off for absences," Oliveros-Larsen said.
Other members expressed more concerned about attendance. "Attendance is a problem, because people who don't show up are reinforced by a lack of agenda. There isn't much interesting about a few clerical details," Flood said.
The lack of proper procedure was another concern raised by SGO members. "It seems like not the entire SGO has read the handbook," said Osborne.
"Parliamentary procedure is rarely followed. Meetings start late, and voting procedures are rarely observed," added Flood.
Seth Birnbaum '02, the appointed parliamentarian, is in charge of enforcing procedure, a duty he discharges when it is appropriate, according to Oliveros-Larsen. "It would be ideal to use proper procedure all the time, but sometimes we don't really need it," she said.
Other students have noticed the inaction of the SGO but consider it an expected consequence of recent events. "I don't think the SGO has been very visible, but, with what happened on Sept. 11, I don't expect things to be normal," said Arthur Lord '03, a former SGO member. "It would be nice to have a visible SGO, but everyone's human, and everybody's dealing with this in their own way ... I think they've done a good enough job under the circumstances."
Current SGO member Jesse Freedman '03 agreed with this sentiment. "In defense of the SGO, this may be a reflection of a fairly content student body," he said.