The Problems with SGA

[logomancer]

A few of you have been wondering what was up with my cryptic comment last night. It involved a series of events that, until recently, have not been resolved. So here it goes:

First, a little background: The VT Alumni Association holds an annual event called Hokie Day, a day when alumni go down to Richmond when the General Assembly is in session and talk with legislators. In recent years, they've been inviting SGA members to come with them. As I wanted to actually see the people I was being represented by face-to-face to have an honest discussion with, I signed up. At this point, everything was fine. I confirmed my willingness to go at the last SGA meeting. I got an email from Brandon Bull (who co-chairs the Exec. Political Affairs Cmte.) asking me to confirm me going. I got a call from Katie Hoffman (the other Exec. Political Affairs Cmte. co-chair) asking if I was going. Exasperatingly -- having been asked this twice already -- I said yes, and stated my needs (a ride and a hotel room, which the SGA paid for). At that point, everything was fine, and I went to a meeting I had that evening.

When I got back at around 10, there was an email timestamped at 9 PM saying that I had had my info taken down, and that those who needed a ride would be called later. I also got a message on my voice mail from Mike Barnett, who heads the House Legislative Action Committee, and was also going. When I called him back, he told me that I couldn't come to Hokie Day. When asked why, he said that there were a number of reasons which he would elaborate on when he got back. I asked him who made this call, and he said he did.

Problem was, that wasn't his call to make; this was being done through the Executive Branch. So I told him I'd be calling Brandon. He suggested I call Sumeet (the SGA President), and gave me a number. It turned out to be the wrong one, so I went on VT People Search trying to find the number of someone in charge. Eventually, I found Sumeet's real number, and called him. He didn't know what was going on, and was going to get back to me. After about 15 minutes, I hadn't heard from him, so I called him again. He still had no clue.

I figured someone would be in the SGA office the day before the trip, so I went there. Mike Barnett called on the way over, but I missed it, so I called back. No response. When I got to Squires, I found Sumeet and Brandon on the 2nd floor talking. Apparently, they had been there for something else. Anyway, I talk to them, and then Brandon and Sumeet ask me to wait over somewhere else, and they go off and whisper conspiratorially before going into the stairwell to talk more. Anyway, Mike calls me back, and I ask him what reasons he had for making "his" decision. He said that my mercurial temperament would cause problems, citing a minor disagreement with the SGA Faculty Advisor last year and my exasperated reply to Katie's query that afternoon as evidence. I wasn't angry at either person, and even if I was, that's pretty flimsy evidence to back a decision that wasn't his to make in the first place. Anyway, I sensed this was all I was going to get from him, and went back to tell Sumeet and Brandon what I had heard. Brandon told me to wait a few minutes more.

Then Sumeet steps out, and asked me what happened. I tell him the story, and he says that he didn't know anything about this, and that it wasn't Mike's call to make, that Mike would get what's coming to him, and that I would be able to go. But for one issue. Apparently, there weren't enough drivers to take everybody, and the cars were filled in the order people replied to the 9:00 email. Unless something changed, I wouldn't be able to go anyway. A few hours ago, I called to see if there was any news, and there was no change, sorry dude.

Sumeet says the two incidents were not related. But I'm not so sure. Things don't quite add up. How did Mike Barnett know the details of my conversation with Katie? Why was I not on the carpool list when my info was some of the first taken? How did this lack of car space come by so suddenly, when most of these people were yuppies and people living off-campus who couldn't function without one? Something stinks, and it's not the laundry.

In any event, Mike has effectively won. I'm still here while he's in Richmond. Sumeet says he's going to take some shit for this, and will look into it next week. If I were in his position, I would have kicked Mike off the delegation and put the person in my place in. But I'm not. I imagine the most that will happen to him is that he'll be forced to apologize, or some other slap on the wrist, or that nothing will happen and the Exec Committee will never get back to me. In any event, the probability of Mike losing his position over this is virtually nil; he'll still be in SGA, and he'll still be the head of my committee.

I don't think I can get anything accomplished with Mike around, as he has no respect for me or my ideas and he will most likely sabotage anything I've worked on or will work on. I have been thinking about resigning from SGA. At this point, the only thing keeping me from doing so is the fact that Mike will still be in SGA, and with nobody to counter him, he and his College Republican friends will run rampant. But I don't know what else to do at this point. I'll have to think about it.

On the plus side, my copies of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Planescape Torment came today. Maybe I'll go play those for a bit.

Comments

[robertliguori.livejournal.com]

Blasphemer. Fallout: Tactics had nothing on the original two. The new combat system was nice, yes, but the story was drastically, drastically lacking.

Plus, you couldn't build an agility-10, perception-10 Finesse-based sniper who can shoot you in the eye from across the map as easily as you could in the origiinal two.