2008 Woodie Awards
Sensible strategy
Staff Editorial
Issue date: 10/5/07 Section: Opinion
Student groups on the campus have much to learn from Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The group went the traditional, preferred route of achieving their goals. They set up meetings with Resident Life officials and tried to convince them that penalties brought against students who smoke pot in dorms are out of step with how society treats usage of the drug. But no dice.
In response, the group's leader, junior Anastacia Cosner, stepped up and joined the University Senate. Even though she'd be vastly outnumbered by faculty senators, she realized that joining the university's most powerful policy-making body is the most direct way to effect change.
Now it's apparent, as The Diamondback's Nathan Cohen reported yesterday, that SSDP has also employed a brilliant, unflinching method of lobbying resident assistants to use discretion when reporting marijuana use. To be clear, we don't support an on-campus housing scene where bong hits are more common than books. But SSDP is appealing to what this is all about: the appalling disregard of justice Resident Life officials have displayed so far.
Because Resident Life's policies on pot use are baseless, unbalanced and indefensible, SSDP will likely find great success in appealing to RAs. We hope that, as Resident Life will likely attempt to assail SSDP's efforts, RAs will do their duty to consider the plight of their fellow students and think critically about Resident Life's obsession with micro-managing its staff.
The Student Government Association, too, seems to be coming around to the populist approach of giving students more power. Their goal of registering 1,000 students to vote in next month's city election has been met with a surprisingly warm reception, especially considering students have had a long history of apathy at the polls.
But it's troubling that the SGA has been so singularly focused on engaging student voters without considering how difficult it would be to shake things up in the districts where so many students live without any challengers in the race.
In response, the group's leader, junior Anastacia Cosner, stepped up and joined the University Senate. Even though she'd be vastly outnumbered by faculty senators, she realized that joining the university's most powerful policy-making body is the most direct way to effect change.
Now it's apparent, as The Diamondback's Nathan Cohen reported yesterday, that SSDP has also employed a brilliant, unflinching method of lobbying resident assistants to use discretion when reporting marijuana use. To be clear, we don't support an on-campus housing scene where bong hits are more common than books. But SSDP is appealing to what this is all about: the appalling disregard of justice Resident Life officials have displayed so far.
Because Resident Life's policies on pot use are baseless, unbalanced and indefensible, SSDP will likely find great success in appealing to RAs. We hope that, as Resident Life will likely attempt to assail SSDP's efforts, RAs will do their duty to consider the plight of their fellow students and think critically about Resident Life's obsession with micro-managing its staff.
The Student Government Association, too, seems to be coming around to the populist approach of giving students more power. Their goal of registering 1,000 students to vote in next month's city election has been met with a surprisingly warm reception, especially considering students have had a long history of apathy at the polls.
But it's troubling that the SGA has been so singularly focused on engaging student voters without considering how difficult it would be to shake things up in the districts where so many students live without any challengers in the race.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
k
posted 10/05/07 @ 9:44 AM EST
last time i checked SSDP hasn't been successful.
k-hole
posted 10/06/07 @ 10:20 PM EST
They've been more successful than our president and we gave him unlimited resources!
Ken
posted 10/08/07 @ 3:27 PM EST
What I get the biggest kick out of is the fact that in this little "Ivory Tower" utopia we commonly refer to as UMCP so many seem to feel that the law that applies in the rest of the country (namely that like it or not pot is illegal) should somehow just "not apply really" here on campus. (Continued…)
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