Students don't have much control over the UB Council, but, from Tuesday through Thursday, they can help elect one member: the student representative.
This year, two candidates are running for the position that is responsible for updating the council – which is usually far-removed from the affairs of undergraduates and graduates – about the different sentiments felt throughout the student body.
For this important position, The Spectrum endorses Joshua K. Boston, the incumbent student representative.
Through Boston's prior experience on the council and his on- and off-campus accomplishments, which include graduating summa cum laude from UB with a B.A. in interdisciplinary sciences (Boston is now pursuing a Ph.D. in political science), serving as the elections and credentials chairperson for the Undergraduate Student Association, and interning at Independent Health, among others, we feel he is more than qualified for the position.
Still, our endorsement does not come without warning. By giving Boston our nod, we expect him – or whoever wins – to better vocalize students' opinions, however controversial or upsetting to the nine other members of the council.
As discussed in our endorsement, the student representative is just that, a representative. We hope that, if elected, Boston won't be shy in advocating the thoughts of all students, including content from publications that question the administration, no matter how much the other members either won't want to hear it or how apathetic they may be toward student concerns.
Boston preached three goals for next year: representation, communication and transparency. By communicating with different entities on campus, such as student governments, clubs, and the press, Boston feels he will better be able to represent the array of wants and needs of students across campus. He also plans to establish a student advisory board to help him gather information and opinions.
In terms of transparency, Boston hopes to get more information across to students; however, he mentioned that he is often restricted by confidential clauses.
For this, The Spectrum urges next year's student representative not to conform. Although the majority of the members of the council would like to keep much of what they do secret, that is unacceptable. We urge the student representative to push for transparency.
There is nothing in the Education Law of New York §356, which governs the UB Council, that stipulates confidentiality. In fact, to the contrary, the law mentions that the council is to be public in nature. Even when calling executive meetings – as it did two weeks ago – the council is required to vote in order to hold such a meeting – as it did not do two weeks ago – and said meetings are to be open to the public, as stipulated in the second section, titled Conduct of Executive Sessions of the Public Officers Law of New York.
The Spectrum is confident in Boston's abilities to fairly and articulately represent UB's student body, and we endorse him for the position of student representative. As we demand more from him, however, we hope he will demand more for us.
Full disclosure: Joshua Boston sits on The Spectrum's Board of Directors as a mutually agreed-upon (by The Spectrum and the Undergraduate Student Association) member.
