By David Randall
Clint Paulson”s experience at BYUSA may be typical of many students who hit WSC 3400: A case of good intentions lost in a feeling of futility.
Paulson, a former Student Advisory Council representative, said he enjoyed his time with a now defunct branch of BYUSA that tackled community service, but felt like his voice and service were lost when he moved to the Student Advisory Council.
“It was probably the biggest waste of time I”ve ever participated in,” he said.
Paulson served on SAC from 2002 to 2003 as an at-large representative.
He was one of the 38 delegates who represent colleges and other student interest groups to act as “the student eyes and ears, receiving ideas, researching and preparing proposals,” according to a recent SAC resource guide.
In two semesters meeting twice a week for an hour and a half, Paulson said his group had passed only a handful of proposals and only one, a petition to hand out yellow ribbons, was accepted by the administration.
“I feel like I got a free trip to Spring Haven, T-shirts and a name tag,” Paulson said, summing up his experience.
Sarah Stevenson, BYUSA vice president over SAC, said some of this year”s representatives have expressed similar concerns. That”s why she made up a long list on yellow butcher paper to remind them of all their accomplishments.
The list includes items like: “BYU Bookstore censorship — anti-Mormon material removed,” “SAC retreat — unity” and “research on credit/debit cards in Cougareat.”
This year”s SAC has passed seven proposals asking for things like a create-your-own major program and announcement broadcasts before Devotionals.
Some of the projects, like the development of a student athletic council, are being discussed. But just as in Paulson”s year, only one proposal, a petition for President Samuelson to address modesty, has been realized.
The problems with this year”s proposals are symptomatic of what happens with most of the student ideas and proposals. They are subject to the whims, budgets and timetables of whatever dean or vice president they fall to.
Student-run radio, the main platform item for BYUSA President Dave Johnson, is a classic example of the difficulties in pushing through student initiatives.
Johnson”s campaign, built on the buzz of student radio, drew votes from more than 10 percent of BYU students — more than the number of students who voted for both candidates in this year”s election.
But more than a year after the campaign, students still lack a slot on the airwaves.
Johnson attributes part of the slowdown to changing administrative personalities. Nearly every dean and chair he discussed the radio project with during his campaign changed before he got into office. But he said the project is still a possibility.
“There”s been a number of things that have slowed us down,” he said, “but I think there”s still plenty of potential for the radio project to succeed.”
Johnson said while student-run radio may not start before he leaves office, it could very well be approved in that time.
According to Rob Foster, last year”s BYUSA president, slow change comes with the territory at BYU, and students shouldn”t feel unheard just because they don”t see immediate results.
“In the church and also at BYU things are done at a very slow pace,” he said. “Things are researched, then reresearched.”
He cited a campaign platform from several years before he was in office that sought to remove social security numbers from student ID cards. Only after Foster was in office was the policy fully implemented.
Johnson said students sometimes confuse power with authority. He said while the BYUSA president and SAC may not be able to make many forcible decisions, that doesn”t mean student can”t influence university policy and spending.
“There are very few decisions that stop with me,” he said. “Not authority, but potentially a lot of power.”
Johnson said while at times he has felt very empowered at BYUSA, at other times, “I definitely have not.”
Anne Rumsey, director of the department of student leadership, the parent organization of BYUSA, said thinking of BYUSA in terms of a government power structure is a bit of a stretch.
“I don”t see us as a democracy and I don”t see us as a theocracy,” she said. “We”re centered on service.”
She said in term of decision-making, she sees students and administrators “all on the same team.”
Testament perhaps to some of the leeway BYUSA is given is the events management team, a sister organization also under the department of student leadership. The paid staff on the management team (as opposed to BYUSA volunteers) handle Asia Fest, Big Band Night, New Student Orientation and other projects, allowing BYUSA a little more discretion in what it choses to do.
Jan Scharman, BYU vice president of student life, said ideally “a lot” of what goes on at BYUSA is student controlled.
“Rather than taking an adversarial position, we”d like more of a collaborative model,” she said, “but we hope students are represented.”
