EDITORIAL: MMC and BBC SGA’s should be one cohesive unit

FIU prides itself on the “Worlds Ahead” university experience, but it feels as though the MMC and BBC campuses are worlds apart.  

The campuses are only an hour’s drive away from one another and many students take classes at both. President Mark B. Rosenberg is the sole president of the University, presiding over each campus.

However, student life is divided in its leadership and options, so a student’s experience at one campus could potentially be a stark comparison to a student involved at another. Why should some student organizations be separate but equal?

Where things get confusing is in the Student Government Association, which is divided into two branches, one for MMC and one for BBC. They each receive the same amount of funding and have an equal amount of power, but they each have their own president. If they are really supposed to be one unit, why is the power distributed between two presidents?  

As mentioned, the campuses are relatively near to one another, so there shouldn’t be an issue of the president not being able to make it to meetings at either location, or other such circumstances.

The main office of Student Media, for example, as well as many other organizations, is at MMC, but that doesn’t prevent us from participating in the BBC campus. The same editions of the Panther Press are still circulated around all campuses, involving information from each location and with the same e-board members and writers putting the paper together.

The departments of Campus Life do vary depending on the campus, but much of this has to do with what is available at either campus. MMC is the bigger of the two, so many of the student groups operate primarily out of the MMC campus, either leaving BBC out of the picture completely or including rare events nearer to the BBC campus. It makes sense, however, that the kayaking and scuba club would be at BBC, since Key Biscayne makes a perfect practice point for these activities.

Nevertheless, SGA’s itinerary isn’t restricted to the shores of the almost-Bahaman water. It’s a major component of student life and what it decides for the school directly and indirectly affects everyone involved in any form at FIU.

The shared power and distinct leadership in SGA is an interesting and albeit confusing set up, especially considering our proximities between each campus. If policies concern everyone at FIU equally and the government is meant to be one cohesive unit, why divide the power?

Image retrieved from Flickr.