Grey is to gray as the student government is to a fish piloting an airplane.
Basically, it has been pretty abysmal.
The Las Positas College Student government is an organization made for the representation and betterment of students and communities around the LPC campus. In better times it has been able to provide services such as club coordination, fairs and community events like The Market.
From practical outcomes alone, one can see that the current student government is not living up to expectations set by its predecessors. Student clubs have been struggling to retain presence, one-third of market events were canceled and the digital fairs held in absence of campus events have drawn so little interest that on occasion the only visitors to booths are student journalists sent to cover the event.
A singular one-time event to connect with students that were proposed in October has been delayed so much that it still has yet to announce a date at the time of this article’s publishing.
If the student government is to step up and be a valuable service to the student community, some big changes need to be made.
The performance and canceled events of the semester have led to an eyebrow-raising consequence. The student government now spends more of its budget paying its members than it devotes to any other purpose around the campus.
Ten of your dollars go to the student government each semester. Usually, this fee is well used to support campus necessities. The past semester was not a usual semester.
LPCSG consists of a six-member executive board, up to 25 senators and two advanced senators. Members of the executive board and the advanced senators receive a scholarship each semester ranging from $600 to $2000 depending on the position. These scholarships are directly funded by student activity fees.
The fall 2020 scholarships were far beyond justifiable for the services provided to the student body.
Over $100,000 is collected each school year in student activity fees. Last semester the student activity fee account had a balance of $241,575, student senate accounts for $53,036 and ICC accounts for $34,386. The activity fees are placed into the activity fee account and transferred to the student senate account as needed. The student senate transfers some of these funds to the ICC as needed.
The budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) has not yet been passed but the draft budget shows expenditures of only $50,000. Of this, $24,500 is for the ICC and clubs, $10,400 for the student government scholarships.
It is notable that during this time period, the number of clubs that filled out the paperwork qualifying them for club funding reached an abysmally low 17 clubs. Five hundred dollars is allocated to each club for a total of $8,500.
Take notice that 4,500 is less than 10,400. This indicated that the student government is spending more on their own payment than they are spending on all campus clubs combined.
With the excess of funds in the student government accounts, student government should explore reducing or suspending the fee for a semester or two. This would not only allow the excess funds in the accounts to be reduced but would also help students whose income has been reduced during the pandemic.
Bottom line is that the student government has not done much for students this year. While they have made some efforts, they ultimately have failed to overcome the problems that have been presented by the pandemic.
Moving forward, it is clear that the student government needs to change if it is to be a useful service to the student body.
Student government needs to get creative in how to support students during the pandemic. The best place to see this in action is to observe how other programs around the campus have made strides to stay connected with students.
The Veteran’s First program can provide some good examples of the support provided to student veterans. Each week there is a Chill and Chat, a time to call in and talk with fellow student veterans.
The Student Veteran’s Organization also held an online pizza and painting event. Members signed up and were provided with a gift certificate for pizza, a set of paints and brushes and a canvas. On the night of the event, a Zoom meeting was held with the participants that were led by one of the veterans and those that attended had a great time!
The Veteran’s Organization also hosted an online trivia night. A trivial contest was held via an online trivia program.
Many of the students do not feel connected to the college. Many first year students have never been on campus and only participated in classes via Zoom or online.
Student government could hold events that can be done via Zoom or other online platforms. Those events should be open to all students and staff to try and get the students connected with the college.
Student government tries to not duplicate services that can be obtained on campus. Laptops can be checked out of the library, free wifi is available on campus including parking lots C & D. This has reduced the opportunities for student government to support students.
The one event that the student government supports is The Market. The Market is held on the third Tuesday of every month and is a free food distribution to students, staff and the public. However, your activity fee funds are not used for The Market, The Market is funded by grants and the East Bay Food Bank. The one exception is that there is a small budget for refreshments for the volunteers at The Market. Unfortunately, The Market was canceled in November, December and January.
Another example of how student government didn’t do much for students in fall 2020 was it took a while to get the positions filled. At the first meeting of the semester, only three of the six executive positions were filled, the other 3 were vacant. At the Sep. 2 meeting, the first senator was appointed. It wasn’t until the Oct. 15 meeting that all the executive positions were filled.
The lack of senators may have had an impact on planning events to connect with students.
With the excess of funds in the student government accounts, student government should explore reducing or suspending the fee for a semester or two. This would not only allow the excess funds in the accounts to be reduced but would also help students whose income has been reduced during the pandemic.
Student government is well funded and needs to connect more with the students at LPC by planning events or activities and finding new methods of connecting with students. Student government needs to figure out how to get students to feel connected with LPC and to represent all students at LPC.
Han Nelson is the A&E Editor of The Express. Follow him @SCP_TLDR.
Alan Lewis is the photo editor of The Express. Follow him @AlanLew89343503.
