Senate advisers need to reevaluate obligations

In our Oct. 8 edition of The Eagle, our editorial called for Senate advisers to take a larger role in Student Senate activities. We asked advisers to provide more advice and to help guide Student Senate.

At the Oct. 12 Senate meeting, advisers spoke on the editorial, asking senators if they had a complaint about the advisers and what they were doing. The conclusion that senators and advisers drew was that they believe advisers are doing their jobs correctly and don’t have any concerns.

At The Eagle, we disagree.

“We are here to support you,” Susan Schaeffer, Senate adviser, said Oct. 12 at the Senate meeting. “We are not here to tell you how to run Student Senate…You are adults and we are not going to treat you like any less than adults.”

Good. We would appreciate this statement, if it was true. Adults and professionals have to be willing to admit they make mistakes, something Senate seems unable to do. If Senate acted like adults they would be grateful for any advice given to them from those who have more experience.

Even the President of the United States has advisers he turns to in time of need.

We never asked advisers to run or dictate Student Senate. In our Oct. 8 editorial, we stated, “We do not expect Senate advisers to run Senate meetings or to control everything about Senate.” We merely asked that advisers give more advice.

Advisers and senators need to understand the responsibilities and the point of an adviser. They are there to guide, to offer advice, to help teach students, not to control everything. There is a difference and we don’t think advisers are seeing the difference.

By not offering advice in any way, advisers are making a decision and giving advice. By not guiding, advisers are saying they don’t see a problem with anything Senate is doing, and they agree with everything Senate is doing.

Mathew Brust, another Senate adviser, asked senators if they would like it if advisers made statements like: “We do not feel that one week is enough to meet with your constituents, and we strongly recommend you take two weeks.”

As adults, senators should ask for this kind of advice, advisers should willingly give this advice, as unwelcome as it might be, and senators should consider the advice.

Senators have a duty to listen to not only their advisers, but also their constituents and take advice from them. Senators should seek out and listen to their constituents’ advice, and they should also seek out and listen to the advice of the advisers. That’s why advisers are there.