I was told that a lot of people would stop reading my column if the words “Student Assembly” appeared anywhere in the first sentence. In my first two weeks at Cornell of not being on the S.A. in over two years., I’m starting to see why.

The idea that is the Student Assembly, once a well-respected body, has turned into a travesty.

Sun Associate Editor David Wittenberg put it best when he wrote in his column nearly a year ago, “theoretical accomplishments aren’t the point of a student assembly. The point is to foster a healthy campus debate. The point is to argue. The point is to make noise — on a large, inclusive scale.”

I completely agree with David’s sentiment. In a way, the current leadership of the S.A. realizes this, too.

Think of the S.A. standing on an island. They can see where they want to go, but they need to finish the bridge to get there. To date, no one has been able to do that (myself included).

The good news is that the shore is in sight. The bridge is buildable. But first, several problems regarding the S.A. need to be addressed:

1. The S.A. represents a student body who couldn’t care less:

Its no secret that seats remain vacant after last spring’s election. The number of non-S.A. members attending weekly meetings is, in a word, embarrassing.

Members of the S.A. need to get the average student interested (or understand what is on their minds, at the very least). Instead of spending money in rather useless areas (and believe me, I can give you a grocery list of places where they already do), the S.A. should hold forums, town hall meetings, or something to at least understand what students are thinking.

One idea that was discussed at length last year that needs to be readdressed by the S.A. is the idea of giving students who show up to meetings a vote. When the S.A. votes on something, all of the students in the gallery should also be able to cast their vote. The prevailing “side” for the gallery’s point of view is awarded two votes.

This new system provides incentive for folks to show up, voice their opinions on issues that affect them, and also shows that the S.A., in a small way, actually gives a damn about what students have to say.

2. In the past, the S.A. has been plagued by an overall lack of creativity:

At the end of my two years on the S.A., I was so sick of going to meetings that I dreaded the end of the week because I knew I had to sit through another one.

The role of President, as I saw it, was to act as the ringmaster for a circus whose own clowns were tripping over their own bureaucracy.

With so many people hating to sit in a room with so many other people, it is easy to see why things weren’t getting done.

This year, the S.A. is a presented with a golden opportunity: Of the sixteen people currently seated, seven of them have a semester of experience or more as a representative. The other nine have never cast a vote. In a few weeks, they’ll be joined another seven newly-elected representatives who also have no experience.

While some have expressed their concern over this overall lack of inexperience, I look at this unprecedented turnover as a chance to change course.

It is my hope that following the departure of a certain few who graduated in May, the members of the S.A. all won’t be pigeonholed into one train of thought. They won’t be worrying about Roberts Rules dominating a meeting.

The S.A. needs to get creative. They need to constantly be keeping their ears to the ground. They need to be more proactive with regards to getting involved with issues. Kick up the dirt. Make issues.

The S.A. needs to be a proactive organization; not a reactive one.

3. The S.A. needs to reach out:

There are so many untapped resources that the S.A. has yet to take advantage of. In Day Hall, there is a Vice President for Government and Community Relations, Stephen Philip Johnson, who the S.A. should be reaching out to, not only to work on campus issues, but issues that affect Collegetown and other off-campus residents.

The S.A.’s primary responsibility comes with legislative authority over everything out of the Dean of Students. There is no greater fan of the S.A. than Dean of Students, Kent Hubbell, but the S.A. needs to go beyond Dean Hubbell. They need to be working more with campus life, dining, student activities, diversity, Greek Life, and more.

They need to be working with the newly elected Dean of the Faculty, Dr. William Fry, to begin working on faculty-student issues.

Are these three issues the only problems that the S.A. faces? No way. But they need to start somewhere in order to get off of my theoretical island.

As of now, I’ll bet the student body isn’t expecting much of the S.A. this year.

Let’s hope they’ll prove them wrong.