The Justice

Some of the Student Union Senate's latest activities remind me of the title of neurologist Oliver Sacks' book recounting unusual clinical stories, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat and Other Clinical Tales. Though I haven't actually read the book, the title alone causes me to consider the possibility that we have a Senate that mistook its purpose for that of Students for Environmental Action. And that problem of identity is indicative of an even larger one with the Senate as a whole. The Senate is simply too distracted from its real purpose: to stand up for its students.

Currently, several senators are working on projects aimed at benefiting the environment. For example, Senator for the Class of 2012 Nipun Marwaha is trying to put a wind turbine in Sachar woods. That's a nice idea (and one that the University has unsuccessfully looked into in the past) but also one that has the potential to inconvenience many students, which doesn't strike me as something the Union should be attempting to do. After all, there aren't that many places on campus where we can go make a good old bonfire. And wind turbines of all sorts tend to make at least a little bit ofl noise. In addition to being ironic, it'd be rather sad to have that woodsy experience interrupted by a giant machine.

Senator for the Class of 2013 Jonah Cohen announced at last week's Senate meeting that he wants to figure out how to dim the hall lights in dormitory halls during quiet hours. Though achieving this may be difficult because of the circuiting of the certain types of fluorescent bulbs, dimming the lights for a good chunk of the day would probably save the University some cash. But then again, do students really want their hall lights to be dimmed during quiet hours? I'd imagine it to be a potentially disorienting situation and also one that seems to patronizingly imply to us that it's bedtime.

And, folks, get excited. Andrea Ortega '13, senator for North Quad, and Jenna Rubin, senator for the Class of 2011, are trying to bring Capt. Paul Watson-the Capt. Paul Watson-to campus. Watson is the star of the show Whale Wars, which airs on Animal Planet. He is also, as one might predict from such credentials, an animal rights and environmental activist. Bringing environment- and animal-loving speakers to campus is a great thing. But this should really be something that the appropriate campus groups work toward organizing without being nudged by the Union.

Continued...

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