Farley looks to ignite output

Student Congress leaders want to hit the ground running this year - but those who can't keep up the pace will have to step aside.

Early absences at Congress meetings have led leaders to ask representatives who cannot fulfill their duties to resign.

Speaker Luke Farley sent an e-mail Wednesday through the Congress listserv requesting that students who haven't been attending meetings step down so that students willing to participate in the organization can do so.

Four representatives already have resigned this year. The vacant positions will be filled in an upcoming special election.

Ethics committee chairwoman and Young Democrats Co-president Blakely Whilden said representatives who no longer wanted a role in the legislative branch of student government would be more proactive in stepping down than remaining in Congress.

"The people who - aren't present when they need to be are doing a disservice to their constituents," she said.

Whilden said members are allowed two absences from committee meetings. Therefore officials will not have a complete picture of who will need to resign until the next full Congress meeting Tuesday.

Student Affairs Committee Chairwoman Emma Hodson said the resignations stem from time constraints that come with being a student, not necessarily from apathetic students who don't want to take on responsibility.

"These people do want to work for Congress, but they realize that they can't - fulfill their duties," Hodson said.

Former Rep. Alice Tu, a second-year pharmacy student, said that she resigned recently because her class schedule would conflict with Congress meetings.

"I didn't want to be late to every single Congress meeting," Tu said.

Sara Reynolds, a second-year master's student for social work, had similar conflicts that led to her recent resignation.

Reynolds worked with Congress as an undergraduate student, and she said she wanted to represent graduate students since their seats are the hardest to fill.

"I'm in grad school, and I'm in an internship 24 hours a week, and I just started a second job," Reynolds said. "Something had to go."

Hodson also said an inaccurate portrayal of Student Congress in The Daily Tar Heel leads to students' not wanting to participate.

"We lose people because they feel that they're not doing enough, or they feel that their work is not valued or needed or appreciated."

Farley said that many students have expressed interest in joining Congress and that filling the newly vacant seats will not be difficult. "I just want to clear everybody out so interested people can come in."

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.