This year the students chose freshman Laurie Hunt as the candidate they wanted to represent their interests on the board. In contrast, the Student Life Committee recommended sophomore Omaar Hena, the candidate who placed third in the student body election, as its choice. If the board of trustees created the position of student trustee to allow the student body to have representation in the board, then we as the student body should be able to choose the best candidate directly.
This year being no different from past years, the board of trustees will likely once again seat the candidate who was not the students' first choice, as it usually chooses the choice of the SLC. But this year is different from past years. The SLC has chosen the candidate, Hena, that is the most out of touch with the opinions of the student body. His editorial against the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity in the April 3 edition of the OB&B ("Big Kahuna celebration degrades women, cultures") was nothing more than a plethora of ludicrous accusations against a faction of the student body. Hena proved in the writing of this editorial that he is extremely reactionary and one-sided in his views. His ability to misinterpret the intention of a simple fraternity theme party is not the type of positive idealism which I would want my student trustee to bring to the board.
As a member of the university community, I feel that Hena is not capable of representing my views. Therefore, the board of trustees should give the power of appointment to the student body directly. Hunt won the election and deserves to be seated as the 1997-99 student trustee. Democracy on this campus must prevail over the usurpation of power, which the board of trustees insists on taking from the student body.
Marc Sirotkin