TO THE EDITOR:
Tomorrow, Student Congress will vote on a redistricting bill that, if passed, would alter the distribution of seats in the body. Despite the DTH editorial board’s laudation (“Deanna does districts,” Nov. 5) of the bill as “needed reform,” this bill contains serious flaws. As the elected representative of students living on campus, whom this bill primarily effects, I feel it is necessary to make those errors known.
First, the bill places Morrison and Ehringhaus — two buildings that are geographically and culturally part of South Campus — in the Middle Campus district. Further, it violates recognized UNC Housing communities by separating Hardin from Craige North and Koury from Horton.
Moreover, the speaker’s bill does nothing to address the off-campus district, where Congress has faced the most difficulty filling vacant seats.
Finally, the bill is undemocratic in that it provides for a highly unequal distribution of students per representative. Under Santoro’s bill, off-campus residents, who comprise nearly fifty percent of all undergraduates, would be underrepresented in Congress.
Speaker Santoro has stated the goal of her bill is to increase competition for district seats, but arbitrarily redrawing the lines of on-campus districts — especially in a way that comports with neither geography nor logic — will not solve this problem. If Congress wants to see greater interest and duration in its membership, it must prove itself an activity worth a student’s time and energy, and the empty seats, regardless of how they are allocated, will be swiftly filled.
I urge members of Student Congress to reject the redistricting bill.
Ryan M. Collins
President
Residence Hall Association
