The pictures posted on a personal Web site which recently surfaced were taken the day before my first presidential election was thrown out. The pictures featured and were taken by the same people who led the charge to throw out the election. This discovery has attracted the attention of local media, angered and insulted the minority communities and elicited predictable damage control sounds such as “zero tolerance, stern discipline, and criminal charges” from the administration. Equally predictable was that it evoked a public apology and expression of regret from one of the “student leaders” responsible.

I have no doubt that these students genuinely regret and are embarrassed by the lapse of judgment and taste on their part – especially its public disclosure.

I would like to be able to accept the explanation that the drawing was no more than a drunken prank, a bad joke, a momentary lapse of judgment, and no more. It is hard enough to believe that even if one was totally inebriated and had poor taste, that one could imagine the Ku Klux Klan to be a matter of humor.

However, it is impossible to believe that the next morning, once sober, one would record the “joke” for posterity and circulation on a Web site. This suggests that the problem runs deeper. It would be regrettable for any student, but these are leaders of the Student Government who claim to represent the values and interests of this student body.

This is racism; we have grown and we have to extinguish it. These symbols are among other things, a rebuke and insult to the process of education and enlightenment to which our University is committed. But it is not the end of the world nor is it a capital crime. Talk of dismissing students is both excessive and unhelpful, and can be counterproductive. It can lead us to believe we have done something, when all we have done is cut the symptom and left the root of racism untouched. It would be far better to see this regrettable incident as an opportunity for education, community building, and administrative self-examination.

As President of the Student Government Association, I devote most of my time working with the student body and I can affirm that these attitudes do not represent the vast majority of students on this campus.

I have not received any letters of resignation. And since it seems that these students do not have the sense to remove themselves from public office it becomes the responsibility of us, the students, to remove them.

There is another matter of great importance to consider. As President of the Student Government my duty is not only to represent the interest of students but also to affirm and protect the autonomy of the Student Government on campus. It will be a great mistake for us to allow the administration in an act of face saving and damage control to remove these students from publicly elected office. Such action not only disempowers students, but also attempts to establish a very ominous precedent. It is patently not the business of the administration to determine who the student leadership should or should not be. It is our responsibility and right, and ours alone, to redeem the reputation of our community and the integrity of our Student Government by electing officers that represent the decency and sensitivity that I have observed in working with you all on campus.

It is time for some major house cleaning and it has to start with the SGA. The SGA must rid itself of an environment that perpetuates racism.

This is an opportunity for the administration to follow suit. And not by punishing and making scapegoats of these students but by looking at how the administration has contributed or been influenced by this mindset.

ALANA students have been trying to talk to the administration about a culture of creeping racism for a long time and have not been listened to. Perhaps the administration will hear a message coming from the entire student community. I call upon you all to send that message loudly and clearly with your vote today and tomorrow from 10 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Dining Commons and Campus Center for senate elections.

Together we can reinvigorate Student Government on this campus and create a unified and effective instrument, which represents the true values and interests of the student community on campus.

Eduardo Bustamante

SGA President