OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

The Undergraduate House of Representatives (UHR) has once again postponed the vote on amending the UHR bylaws. With all the discussion surrounding the proposed changes, it is obvious that some sort of amendment is necessary, and UHR needs to move forward with the process. If UHR expects the bill to be failed, they should go ahead and fail it instead of continually postponing the vote. This way, they would be able to introduce a new version and restart the process.

Unfortunately, postponing the vote is not the only way in which UHR has been wasting time with the bill to amend the bylaws. They have also made several amendments to the bill throughout the process; if UHR will ultimately fail the bill, the amendments are a waste of time.

Considering that part of the reason the vote has been postponed is to ensure that enough representatives in favor of the bill will be present to vote, it is evident that some representatives should be taking their jobs more seriously. As obvious as it may seem, the student body elects its representatives to represent them in UHR sessions. Representatives need to attend meetings for this to happen.

Not only that, but the younger members should find their voices and stop allowing a smaller number of upperclassmen to dominate UHR. It seems that just a few seniors are standing in the way of amending the bylaws; they should not be able to use their seniority to sway younger representatives, who should instead make their own decisions so that the student body as a whole is better represented.

As students continue to watch UHR deliberating over the amendments, they should keep the upcoming Student Government Association (SGA) application deadline, March 16, in mind. SGA can always use new members with fresh ideas and dedication to the process. Every semester, there are majors with representative seats still open and others for which the same representative runs uncontested term after term.

Getting involved with SGA is a great way for any student to get involved on campus and make a positive impact. While voting to pass the bill to amend the UHR bylaws may not seem like a huge change for the Institute, but these changes will affect things like the mandatory Student Activity Fee allocation policies. Tech needs those changes to ensure fairness for all organizations requesting money from SGA.

Not only that, SGA also sponsors events such as GT Night at Six Flags, Finding Common Ground, and One Night Stand. Through funding decisions and programs, SGA affects every student.