Dear David Dyck,
Re: “Letter to the Editor – May 20, 2013”
I am still away for a few more weeks, but my semesters abroad have not made me forget my time on the board. Stepping away from politics at SFU has given me time to reflect on my mistakes and determine methods to improve my university before I graduate.
I strongly believe in the intellect and ability of the students at SFU. I do not believe that you, David, or any member of the board, believe our fellow students are incompetent and unable to resolve “real problems.”
Anyone starting a new job faces a steep learning curve, and a departmental representative elected to forum cannot learn the ins and outs of student governance in one semester, just as no member of the board can do so in four months.
The first solution is not to ask uniformed or disorganized students to answer difficult questions, but instead to have students elected to Forum for a one year period and empower them via a comprehensive training process, just like the board of directors receives. The result will be a Forum of engaged students.
This type of student government would call for a much larger election and incorporate more students into making real decisions at SFU. Forum would not be made of a small cadre of students elected from each department, but would be organized in a representation by population of faculty body election.
Ideally, these students would already have previous experience in their faculty. The recent special general meeting formally recognizing faculty student unions is an amazing example of how determined our students are for a new form of politics at SFU. The creation of faculty student unions will allow newer students to get a taste of student politics and provide a stepping stone for them to gain experience of how larger forums and student governance work.
Bringing reform to the SFSS will require work and cooperation, but is absolutely necessary and our students are definitely able. SFU is rated number two in the top 50 universities under 50 years old in Canada. As a young institution with a great reputation, we must do our part to fix our broken system.
If you ask me, reform is not only practical and possible, but must happen to reach the democratic benchmark and organizational capacity that most of the student societies of our size have already achieved.
Sincerely,
Kyle Acierno
