Just like in real government, here at Bakersfield College, it is important to know who represents you. Student Government Association officers were elected last spring to do just that: represent BC students. The Renegade Rip editorial board feels it is necessary to evaluate these officials and the job that they have done this past school year. We feel there are many places where SGA has done wrong by the students it represents.
The SGA claims they are available for all BC students, and that anyone can drop by their offices to talk to them. We have seen firsthand, time and time again, how untrue this is. The SGA has refused to talk to The Renegade Rip for many articles this semester, even when they were the best source for the articles. This refusal may or may not be due to an article printed in The Renegade Rip last semester about three SGA officers being kicked out of a conference and then SGA itself because of drinking alcohol at said conference.
Regardless of any hard feelings over the article, the SGA is not only refusing to talk to us as a newspaper but also as students. We are students just like everyone else, and, supposedly, we are invited to come talk to our elected officials about any problems or upcoming events. Two Rip staff members even had a meeting with SGA to discuss their avoidance. No good came of this meeting.
What SGA apparently fails to realize is that if they don’t talk to The Renegade Rip, no one on campus is going to know what the SGA is up to, which, as will be mentioned later, isn’t much. The Renegade Rip provides BC students with information on what the SGA is doing. When they refuse to talk to us, they are essentially refusing to talk to the entire student body.
Spring Fling this year was a joke. SGA gave us a DJ and bands that hardly anyone listened to, a teacup ride that very few people rode (maybe because of the waiver they had to sign to ride?)? and some nonsensical “caterpillar decoration” in the Campus Center that served zero purpose. For all this, the SGA spent $9,000, including $3,800 for the teacup ride alone. Throughout all this, SGA was nowhere to be seen. Apparently even they did not enjoy the “festivities” of Spring Fling. The Delano Campus SGA, on the other hand, did a lot more with a lot less funds. They had a cakewalk, a chess tournament, an inflatable boxing ring, a dunk tank and even a pie-a-teacher event and all with $2,500. BC’s homecoming activities last semester were equally ridiculous. The standout event was the expensive tent where a movie was shown. SGA claimed to not know how many students utilized the tent. Maybe there were so few students that SGA was embarrassed by the turnout.
What many BC students don’t know is that the SGA gets paid for all this . by the students they “represent.” That $1 extra fee when students register goes straight to the SGA. There’s also the automatically checked optional $15 fee for the SGA card, which does have some benefits but not enough. This may not be much individually, but it adds up. SGA officials get paid in the hundreds each month, all from the pockets of BC students. They spent $28,000 going to a conference in Chicago, again, with our money. And what are we seeing from this? How is all this spending helping or representing us? We understand that the conferences they go to most likely teach them new things to do for their school. But we don’t know any of this, and we’re certainly not seeing any change. For all we know, they’re just partying and getting drunk at those conferences . oh, wait . Anyway, that $1 fee is for our student representation, but we don’t feel very represented.
All of this would be more excusable if the SGA was actually doing something for us, but they’re not. SGA President Lyne Mugema promised many things when she was elected. One of these promises was a greener campus with recycling bins next to each trashcan all over campus. The school year has passed, and those recycling bins are nowhere to be seen. Mugema also promised The New York Times would return to the racks where they once could be found. Again, SGA never made good on this promise. There have been no obvious changes since the new SGA has taken office, and it’s reasonable to believe there have been no subtle changes either.
Though we believe this SGA has been very disappointing, we have high hopes for the newly elected officers. Hopefully, they will do more for the student body than this past SGA. The Renegade Rip looks forward to establishing a better relationship with the new SGA than the one this SGA has forced us to have.