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Tuesday, July 01, 2003
New incoming student Regent-- Matt Murray. He gets to enter office at the point of the largest budget crisis in decades, if not ever.
Anyone honestly analyzing the Student Regent has to concede that he has only two powers-- to vote, and to convince others how to vote. One vote not being too important, convincing other Regents is the only thing the Student Regent can do that might actually make a difference. That's why Mr. Murray's accurate but too-modest rejection of being the 'student representative' is too quick! "I want to be on equal footing with the regents," he says. "I wasn't elected by the 180,000 students in the UC system so I don't pretend to think of myself as the student representative bringing the student perspective—it's easy for the other regents to disregard your opinion that way."Is it really easier to write off some random underage appointee then the closest thing to a student voice that there is? Of course Mr. Murray isn't our duly elected representative, but it might give him more bargaining weight if it looks like a million students are behind him... and it's in our best interest to do so. But boy, does Senator Kashmiri appear arrogant when he lectures Mr. Murray "Matt's worked with the ACLU, but he lacks the ties to the campus student groups that Dexter has," Kashmiri said. "He will need the help of these communities to be a successful student regent."Matt co-founded the Berkeley ACLU, not 'worked with it.' And the euphemistic 'campus student groups' and 'communities' are the collection of highly Progressive groups that CalSERVE is affiliated with. Representative of students they are not! And I have little faith in their lobbying abilities, considering what an overall mess the last regents protest was. Heck, considering that the Regents are Democratic-majority and mostly Liberal, the fact that they've become a hyper-paranoid and secretive group flitting between protest-free campuses does not speak well of their relationship with and respect for students. Considering that the Progressive groups that control our lobbying efforts view their job as harassment and opposition, this is not a surprise. We might be better off cultivating a relationship not primarily controlled by students shouting into a mic at ever-decreasing public comment times. Mr. Henchman contributed to this report.Email This Post! |
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