SGA Beat

Author: Mario Ariza

There is something different about this year's Student Government Association (SGA). Recognizing his organization's lack of legislative power, President Bobby Joe Smith III '09 was quick to place the new senators' roles in context.

"The SGA's only role is a suggestion committee," he said. "Just because we pass a piece of legislation, it doesn't mean the College does. With that in mind, even if we're only a voice, we are definitely the most important."

The President charged this year's senators with being a comprehensive link between the student body and the association. This year's senators are to serve as ad-hoc focus group leaders and at-large pollsters. Their main task is to determine the needs of the student body.

Imploring senators to sit with their constituents in the dining hall and field questions, exhorting the senators to post flyers and inform students about SGA initiatives, Smith attempted to "give the SGA some teeth by organizing the student body".

Smith presided over the year's first session of the SGA senate Sunday in the Crest Room. The body elected Brainerd Commons Senator and SGA Cabinet Academic Affairs Officer Vrutika Mody '10 as its speaker of the senate. After a debate in which Sophomore Senator David Peduto argued against the public release of the SGA election results, the senate voted to publish the results on its website and send students the link.

"I guess were going to have to fix the web-site," said Smith.

The assembly put off voting on the Finance Committee guidelines, presented by Cabinet Director of Student Organizations Caroline Woodworth '09, because its members had not been able read the proposal due to Sunday afternoon's internet failure. Mody then informed the senate of the passage of a piece of legislation, the Freedom of Book Information Act, which requires colleges to provide students the ISBN numbers of required books for any courses in which they enroll students. The law takes effect in 2009, and will likely have a major impact on the business done by the Middlebury College Bookstore.