Source for Senate

The Primary Source's foray into Senate politics this week may not be what the original supporters of culture representatives intended, but it certainly appears true to the attitude of the controversial amendment.

Though political scientists would argue that there is a difference between ideology _ what conservatism is _ and culture, the TCU Constitution says nothing to define what a "culture" that can be represented in the Senate is. Certainly one could argue that Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered students are not a culture but a group with special interests. That conservatives' "culture" is underrepresented in the discussion of campus issues in the Senate would be a matter of some debate, but the argument can be made. Certainly the members of the Source and the Tufts Republicans represent only a small fraction of the undergraduate population, and certainly liberal thought is predominant at Tufts.

Of the four culture reps currently approved by the student body, three are based on ethnicity and one is based on lifestyle. There is also a voting commuter representative, bringing the total special interest Senate positions to five.

The Daily has long maintained that there are severe flaws in the culture rep concept. Perhaps now this is becoming a bit more obvious. How is an Asian or an LGBT rep more underrepresented than one representing conservatives? How about one representing Muslims? How about one representing football players? Shouldn't all of these groups have a representative for their own culture?

The truth is that there is no need for a conservative rep, just as there is no need for any special interest representative. Have any members of these so-called underrepresented groups ever tried to run in a general Senate election? Given typical student apathy toward the Senate and resignations left and right, it's hard to imagine they would have a tough time.

The Source is to be commended for its effort to have conservatism included as a Senate culture rep category. Maybe others will follow their example, crowding ballots with referendums for every single culture imaginable. And maybe then we'll start realizing just how ridiculous all of this is.