President’s recent mistake inexcusable, mirrors state of our national political scene

Personally, I am not much of a fan of student government. I understand all the student workers involved do important jobs that help the university function, but unfortunately, for most students on campus, indifference toward the organization runs deep. Taking a look at the voter turnouts in recent elections will tell you that. But over the past two terms or so, my interest level in the happenings of ASOSU has definitely piqued, and not necessarily in a good way.

It started with the botched impeachment process last term, which was fun to follow albeit only as a quick read in the paper. Initially, it seemed like the impeachment was based on trumped-up charges stemming from a personal vendetta between members of the legislative branch and the president. But now I have to wonder if those legislative guys were on to something.

Granted, the move proposed by the president would have saved OSU money in the short term, but she overstepped her authority by not consulting the legislature about her decision. Now just last week it came to light that the madam president once again failed to consult the legislature on a financial decision, only this time, she gave her and her staff a hefty pay raise.

The raises date from last June and range from an extra $900 for her and the vice president to an extra $100 for task force directors, leaving a total overpayment between $4,000 and $6,000 to the executive branch. It should also be noted that like her last offense, this occurred over the summer when many of the student legislators are out of town for the same reasons that many other students are out of town and could not easily keep tabs on events.

I wish that I could make more money by just deciding that I want to make more money. This article I'm churning out would net me a handsome sum. But no, that's not how things work, not even for ASOSU presidents with a false sense of importance.

Obviously, there had to be a perfectly good explanation for this failure to consult anyone before handing out our money to herself and all her friends. And fortunately, for all of us, there was one.

Stating that, "I never got an idea of what I can and cannot do," the president provides a reasonably acceptable excuse. She just didn't know what she was doing was wrong. It's like when a child gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar, all they know is that they want the cookies, not that they have to ask for them first.

A secondary explanation of wanting to attract more talent to OSU through the pay raise was presented as well. Because we all know the reason that students get involved in leadership and student government is for that fat paycheck at the end of the month. Forget the resume booster, forget the great networking opportunities, forget wanting to actually contribute to the school we attend; it's all about that "dollar dollar bill, y'all." Unfortunately, it seems like the person in charge does not have much of an idea of what is actually going on and what she is actually supposed to do. Most likely, after last term's embarrassing impeachment process, there will not be any sort of public reprimand. The legislature probably does not have the gumption to go through all of that again, and it's too bad, because this is a punishable offense most people can get behind. After all, we are talking about the students' money being used to fund an unauthorized pay raise.

My only wish is that we can get back to the time where our student government was run by high-achieving, school-minded individuals who in no way resemble professional politicians. Because I would really like to go back to not caring.

Charles Leineweber is a junior in psychology. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Leineweber can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.