By Ali Morris
Staff Writer

Even though the Bates College Student Government has traditionally been a big presence on campus, it recently had to go through a series of changes in an effort to remain that way.

While older students may remember the student government as one of the most involved clubs on campus, it has increasingly become subject to negative criticism. Many see it as a small, selective group that is quite unrepresentative of the student body. This is most likely due to the fact that, for the past two years, the government has been trying to reorganize its internal structure. The need to reorganize came from students who were concerned that the student government did not represent the student body to its fullest potential.

Thus, these past two years have been spent trying to fix the students’ concerns. By establishing an entirely new constitution, the student government has decided to start over again, and with this constitution, they hope to get back on track. According to Chris Laconi (’05), president of the RA last year, the formation of the new constitution was one of the student government’s biggest challenges.

“It took two years from start to finish for the idea of a new constitution to come up, and then for it to pass. It was the first entirely new document made in 30 years as the other one had only been amended or slightly changed throughout its existence,” Laconi said.

In terms of changes in structure, the new government has officially established two separate branches, the judicial and executive, much like the one in our nation’s system. The RA, or Representative Assembly, is now used to describe just the legislative body, instead of the entire government. In fact, the club’s name has changed altogether, to the Bates College Student Government, or BCSG, as it encompasses both the legislative (RA) and executive branches.

When asked what has been changed in the government, newly elected BCSG president Jamil Zraikat (’05) replied “we have become more focused on the tasks-at-hand rather than on arguing and discussing political procedure. Instead of focusing on political communication policies, we are going to address real issues. We want people who represent Bates College life, not students who are in it just for the political aspect.”

In that respect, it seems the BCSG is heading in the right direction. Students who may have felt intimidated by the political aspect of the student government are encouraged to voice their opinions through their student representatives once again. While the official terminology used in the past representative assembly shut people away from interacting with the government, the new BCSG hopes to do the opposite. It seems their plan has been working. The last student government election had a great turnout, with over 600 people voting. This really shows that “students are restoring much more faith in our government” says Zraikat. The newest project of the BCSG has been the creation of a small committee elected to help hire a new dean of students. This has been a great process for students to be involved in because it deals with an issue that will closely affect us. Who else is better fit to find a new dean of students than the students themselves? With half the semester ahead of us, the new BCSG is eager and ready to serve Bates students to the best of their ability.






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