DSG actions seem retaliatory

Duke Student Government's retaliation against student input in the referendum is both offensive and misguided on so many levels. DSG is so consumed with pushing its own agenda that the concept of even considering student priorities has become unfathomable.

You may be asking what could lead one to believe that DSG's actions are retaliatory and not just innocuous. Well, not much really, outside of the shady and unprecedented disclosure of the referendum results. This is representative of DSG's reluctance to admit a discrepancy between its views and students', and its response is to penalize us for our "shortsightedness." It seems petty for DSG to attack such a widely popular program like the Readership Initiative so it can find a way to track buses.

The Readership Initiative is an unaffiliated benefit for everyone. It is our window to the outside world, a vision beyond the Duke bubble. Without it, we'd all be in for a much bigger surprise come graduation day.

Its proposed downsizing is a testament to the discontinuity between DSG and the student body. To base our entire fiscal philosophy around, as President Jordan Giordano puts in a Sept. 18 Chronicle article, minimizing the "impact on student groups" and maximizing "the bang for our buck" is silly. This isn't Duke Student Group's Government, it's Duke Student Government! If the growth of student groups is spiraling out of control, then curb it.

Make groups accountable for activity and membership by having their members' petition for maintaining the group's status. Everyone knows the fate of the average student group. A group of friends band together around a novel concept. These students, usually comprised of the same generation of Dukies, goes forth and creates a student group. It thrives for a year or so until its initial advocates graduate, at which point the group tends to fall apart.

I do want to applaud DSG for its prompt response to the student-DSG disconnect. The forthcoming and forgivable admission of its shortcomings as an organization shouldn't go unmerited. What also shouldn't be left unsaid is that DSG is representative of the student body and that these shortcomings are a reflection of us as well. As students, we have to take personal responsibility to keep our government informed of our desires and values.

Jesse Hilaire

Trinity '09