Since Joost Bosland clearly thought long and hard about his idea to eliminate DSG for his editorial "Read my lips: No More DSG," let's take a moment to think about how this year would have been different if, as he proposed, DSG was eliminated.
First the Krzyzewskiville tradition would have come to an abrupt end. Donald Wine and his dedicated line monitors would never have been chosen, tenting would not have occurred because there would have been no way to oversee it and the fun events which took place in front of Cameron before the Maryland and UNC games would not have occurred.
Maybe basketball isn't Bosland's thing, but what about the DSG newspaper program, which President Keohane and Larry Moneta (who he seemed to imply in his article always know what is best for students) refused to fund. The program provides students with free copies of the New York Times, USA Today and the Herald-Sun (and has had a nearly 100 percent usage rate, as every paper available is taken) and is painstakingly administered by DSG member Rick Garcia.
What about DUSDAC, which has spent hundreds of hours surveying students and working with the director of Dining Services to make sure that Duke is providing students with the best possible dining options? Does the Student Organizations Finance Committee, which analyzes dozens of budgets from student groups every year and works tirelessly to provide the best possible allocation of funding to enable the multitude of activities in which students participate to occur, have no value?
Well, Bosland might say that these all could be separate organizations and that the DSG VPs and senators are the ones wasting resources and padding their resumes. I contend that, like the services DSG provides, its legislative body has a great deal of value to students. The Facilities and Athletics committee has worked from the very beginning of the year to improve safety on-campus. Though Alex Nijelow, the head of the committee, met with administrators numerous times about needed safety improvements earlier in the year, it was not until there was an armed robbery in the Bryan Center and two sexual assaults that the administrators, who Bosland seems to argue know what is best for Duke and its students, took action to increase safety and implement some of the suggested changes on this campus.
The Facilities and Athletics Committee also opened gated lots on West Campus to off-campus seniors on nights and weekends, raised more than 68,000 cans for the North Carolina Food Bank and compelled administrators to actually create a committee to get student input on the new West Union student center.
The Academic Affairs Committee has, among other things, worked to open classrooms at night in which students can work collaboratively (rather than disturbing people who want to study independently in the library) and has created an elaborate plan to overhaul the Pre-Major Advising Center.
I, personally as a freshman senator on the Facilities and Athletics Committee, have been able to decrease air-conditioning rates for students with medical need for the upcoming year, overturn more than $1,200 in parking tickets through re-zoning on East and make permits available to students for a lot on East that was previously reserved for faculty and staff.
I will be the first to admit that DSG is not a perfect organization, but it shows a profound misunderstanding of the organization to say that if it were eliminated Duke would not be negatively affected. The majority of people on Duke Student Government care passionately about making this school a better place and it is insulting for Bosland to claim that the organization has no value while probably benefiting from the work of its members in more ways than he knows.
David Snider
Trinity '07
DSG Senator
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