Dear editor:

Re: “ALANA’s promise,” Shaun Robinson, Ed/Op, Mar. 3, 2008

The success of any political party, national or local, is the extent to which it is able to improve the lives of its constituents. It isn’t how many slogans you chant or how loudly you chant them as much as what you can actually get done. The ALANA Caucus is a well-funded political coalition on campus and it has been in power for the past four years and what exactly has it accomplished?

The fees are every bit as high as they always were, in fact a proposal to further increase them will be discussed tomorrow in Boston. The roofs still leak, the classrooms are still overcrowded and we all still shlep around dodging potholes and snow banks. The administration still treats us with unveiled contempt and we won’t even discuss the local constabulary or why I think that Charlie Scherpa should be indicted for war crimes.

So we had a strike, so we huffed and puffed and wasted a whole lot of student fee money photocopying fists. We are going to miss a day of school next month so we can go to Boston and say that people already receiving six-figure salaries should get more of our money? We are going to use student fee money (that should go to RSOs) to subsidize the Office of Admissions, what is next, using it to fix sidewalks?

ALANA couldn’t even get rid of a lame-duck Michael Gargano. I, personally, did far more to encourage his departure.

It is time for a cold reboot. It is time to start over with new people and see if we can actually accomplish some of the things we are chanting about. All of the candidates running have essentially identical platforms and question thus becomes one of having the same leadership cadre or new people.

I disagree with Libby Protzman on perhaps just about everything. The difference between her and everyone else is that she is an outsider, she is someone new. And a new coalition, at least for the first year, will have to be honest because their political opponents will be watching for the first misstep. And Libby strikes me as an honest leftist, who unlike others, will actually show up.

So too with Derek Khannah. I have disagreed with him, disagreed with him quite vehemently on issues of some significance. Politically I disagree with him on almost as many things as I disagree with Libby Protzman – but I still think he would make a fine SGA President. I think that ALANA would be well served by having him as President.

I have not been impressed with the past few generations of SGA leaders. There is a lot that I can’t discuss but in many circles, the SGA’s reputation is nonexistent. I say give Khannah/Protzman a try because they simply can’t screw things up any worse than the current cadre already has – and would continue to do if left in power. The whole organization is a legacy of hand-picked successors dating back decades and it is time for new blood.

Ed Cutting Graduate student School of Education