After reading last week’s Review (“Senate approves new cabinet, diploma resolution,” TLR, April 9), I wanted to voice my opinion on a certain subject. While I do agree with senior President-elect Colin Jones that it is his (and sophomore Vice President-elect Katie Patterson’s) cabinet and he has full choice over it, I do not agree with the selection method. It has come to my attention that during the ASLC Board interview Jones and Patterson had Dan Fergueson and only two senators on the hiring council, and although other senatorial assistance was hard to find, there was a deliberate avoidance of any other aid, especially from the outgoing ASLC president and vice-president.
In the past, the outgoing president has been included among the council, despite the decision to ask for assistance being at the incoming president’s and VP’s discretion.
I find it troubling that when the board has issues finding people, they would turn others away, especially those who have sat on said council before. In fact, last year, for the interviews, the committee included an additional two senators and the outgoing ASLC president. I feel, and I am sure everybody has his or her own opinion, that this method of selecting a board is selfish and even ignorant. I can see that since this is their period of leadership in office, they would want things to go their way. I cannot, however, get over the fact that Jones’ comments from the story imply that he ignored input from people that are experienced in what he will soon be doing — running and representing our college.
Too often in politics has the politician promised positive rewards and then turned around, revealing his or her true goals and colors. I believe that the said committee should have extended beyond senators in this instance, considering the fact that so few people were involved. I want to thank Jake Masin in this instance for bringing that point up in Senate, voicing his concern about the college (regarding the choosing and the lack-of “senate minutes” updates posted).
According to last week’s story, Jones said he used a “holistic approach” to choose the ASLC Cabinet, while disregarding experience as a main factor in the selection. With cabinet positions requiring experience, usually gained while holding positions such as business manager and assistant to the secretary, why would anybody neglect experience as a determining factor while hiring? How am I to trust our cabinet if it comes in without experience? If we do not have experienced ASLC board members, then how are we to have efficiency?
Despite not being involved in Senate since my freshman year, I know that there are always many people who show dedication and involvement in representing our college. Senate e-mails aren’t always the most informative and often leave out crucial information with the exception of “events,” which I believe is the one reason many of the student population even read the reports. I didn’t even know any names of the cabinet until I read the story, which brought up the question, “How can we voice our opinions when we don’t know if we have an opinion to voice?”

Garrett Garceau
Guest columnist