Confusion is the word Associated Students, Inc. Chairwoman and Vice President Lucy Montano used to describe the disagreement over the doubling of campus security at a Senate meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
What is there to be confused about? We’re talking about the safety of students here, not calculus. The fact that the safety of students lies in the hands of confused ASI politicians should really make us think about the kind of show they are running over there.
We don’t know how Montano keeps herself informed, but in the Oct. 18 issue of the Daily Forty-Niner, we informed readers about the recently passed resolution that Senator of the College of Liberal Arts, Raul Preciado, brought up to the ASI Senate.
The resolution is a petition to extend hours of campus escorts and increased security late at night.
The issue of the resolution itself seemed a bit disconcerting.
Debating whether there were three or four sexual assaults and one or two attempted kidnappings shouldn’t have been the issue.
A sexual assault is a sexual assault. It should have taken just one to mobilize our campus security and make students see the quick response.
If you’ve ever been on campus late at night, it can literally feel like you’re the only person in sight.
The fact that the reported cases have involved women, and that a woman who has a say in student government doesn’t think that doubling the amount of security working on campus can be useful, simply shows the lack of responsibility within the Senate.
The author of the petition, communications major Caroline Chen, was right when she was quoted in Thursday’s Daily Forty-Niner, saying that she was surprised that she had to fight so hard to get this petition passed.
Of course she would be surprised. You would think that a measure that ensures safety for students would at least stand a chance without excess cumbersome scrutiny. Focusing on the numbers rather than the issue overall shouldn’t have been the biggest part of the argument.
It also comes back to show the importance of keeping these people informed regarding issues that they are supposed to thoroughly be informed about.
Had Montano taken the time to read last week’s article, she wouldn’t have been so confused about the resolution.
She didn’t even have to go online to see the article. The paper is still in stands.
