I'm forced to agree with the Daily on the effectiveness of the TCU Senate ("Time for Real TCU Competition," April 5). Until I read the Daily's coverage yesterday, I didn't even know we had a Senate, and based on what I read I'm extremely disappointed. The Daily had some good suggestions. It sounds like it would be a good idea for the senate to, on occasion, look "to its constituencies," like perhaps mailing feedback surveys, soliciting ideas or opinions on a Website, or maybe even holding office hours.
Some drive toward "mediating relations with community neighbors," as the Daily suggests, would have been be an impressive step towards off-campus outreach. If they were really committed to this, Baumwoll and his slackers should have held some sort of council panel on the topic, perhaps even inviting community leaders onto campus.
It was disturbing to read about how Baumwoll's secret club of depraved cliquey eighth-graders keeps the presidential nominations closed to senators. If the TCU were an actual democracy, you would think that the election process would have been voted on and approved by the entire student body in some kind of constitution.
Clearly the Daily wants to report on actual accomplishments, but can't when nothing happens all year. Real improvements that students could see when they return in the fall, like universal dorm access or replacing the confusing-as-hell points system, or an event along the lines of a campus-wide dance or a diversity festival, would have provided the Daily with the kind of "concrete in any sense of the word" achievements they were looking for.
Ed Kalafarski
TCU Senator
LA '06
