I think one of the hardest parts about being away from Seattle is watching student politics and knowing that (a) I can't do anything about it, and (b) even if I could, I shouldn't. Case in point, today the Seattle Times is running an article about the UW's new approach to extending the Student Conduct Code. Besides mistakenly identifying the Eric Godfrey, newly appointed Provost for Student Life, as the "the UW's longtime vice provost for student life," the article seems accurate. Essentially, the administration is preparing to back an extension of the conduct code... and apparently the students are going to go along with it.
The fight to keep the conduct code on campus has been raging since I was a junior, but picked up serious steam in 2004 after "riots" in Greek Row. Of course, those "riots" were mostly non-students, but the residents of the area tend to lump all "young people" into the same group. Action was demanded and Rep. Murray (now Sen. Murray) took the task to the legislature. Since then the ASUW has fought to protect the civil rights of its membership and been quite successful. The bill never once got out of committee.
This year seems to be the year we finally lose that battle. I suppose it ought to be they, not we. I'm not a student any more... but detaching from something so tied up with who I am is proving difficult. I'm not saying I'm gonna write the ASUW President a letter, but I sure wish he wouldn't lie down before the fight. There are lots of angles on this, and just because the administration is changing its position doesn't mean the legislature is ready to do the same.
----
In an update to a story I posted Wednesday, the White House has nominated Benjamin Settle to the Tacoma seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Settle's chief qualification seems to be his involvement with former Sen. Gorton (R) election campaigns. Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, you know what have to do.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment