SGA representatives must show principles

Last week it was revealed that SGA representatives who were also members of the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon voted in favor of funding an event for the fraternity during SGA’s Apr. 9 meeting.
A week later it was announced at the meeting that SGA bylaws require SGA representatives to abstain from voting on resolutions that involve Registered Student Organizations they are associated with. Seven of the eight members of SGA who are in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity were forced to abstain from voting for the resolution.
The members should never have voted for the resolution. SGA President Austin Hall asked the representatives to abstain from voting for the resolution, but the Sig Ep members voted for it anyway. This shows a lack of principles in these members. Simply because you are allowed to do something does not mean you should.
Common sense tells most people that voting in favor of funding your organization with student fees is a conflict of interest. The fact that the Sig Ep members were forced to abstain even after it was revealed that they could not vote shows that they value their fraternity more than they value a fair allocation of student funds.
SGA has already promised more Student Activity Fee Allocation funding than was in the budget, so asking for more funding when an event was already well-funded should not be left up to the organization that wants it.
Students do not want their SGA representatives spending large chunks of their fees on events the representatives are involved with.
The event funded by the resolution was the “Rock The Yard” concert. The concert raises money for the YouthAids charity, which is a good cause. There are simply better ways to go about raising money for the charity that do not involve increasing student fee allocation unfairly to support one event.
The cost of the concert is estimated at $18,000. SGA funding was originally $7,650 for the concert and the second resolution increased to $12,500. Sig Ep will charge $5 per ticket for students to attend the concert. If 1,000 students attend the concert, which is far more than have ever attended the concert, the profit would be only $5,000.
The concert is a huge expense to students and does not break even for the charity it supports. It also charges students five dollars to attend the show when it has already been paid for in part by students. Sig Ep should either raise more of the money itself or find a way to make the concert more economical. If the concert is billed as an event to support charity, it should not cost as much as it does.
SGA is supposed to keep the interests of students in mind, not the interests of the organizations they are associated with. Members of Sig Ep in SGA should realize that while they are in an SGA meeting, the students they serve are the highest priority.
These events show that SGA will turn out some good politicians, but not necessarily good leaders. Members of SGA need to remember from now on that they must be far more careful with their actions.
It is understandable that the members of Sig Ep would want the concert to get the extra funding from SGA. However, in the same way that journalism students do not write stories about events they are involved with, SGA senators should not vote on resolutions involving their own organizations. It is not possible to be fair about something you support passionately, so stepping aside is the right thing to do.