By Tanner Knauth, Page Editor

I was infuriated when I found out the Students’ Association Congress decided to close its meeting because of a tape recorder.

I’ve heard several members say these meetings are open to the public and they encourage students to attend. However, when the Optimist provides Congress a way to give students access to its meetings without the constraints of time (the audio recording is posted on the Optimist Web site), Congress members promptly close the meeting. This seems a hypocritical message to me.

In reading some of the comments from previous articles about SA Congress, specifically the article, titled SA divvies up more than 30K, an obvious disconnect appears between the students and Congress.

I have a lot of respect for people who would take time out of their already busy schedules to represent a constituency of several thousand students. It is a difficult task, and for every student they make happy, they know there will be one they make mad. But whenever they choose to hide behind closed doors, they come off as either secretive or arrogant. I’m not saying Congress is either of these, but that is the image its members project when they make decisions to close a supposedly open meeting.

If Congress truly was interested in full disclosure and interaction with the students, the members missed a golden opportunity when they voted to close Hart Auditorium’s doors. By allowing the meeting to be recorded and made readily accessible via the Optimist Web site, students would be able to “attend” the meeting at their leisure and would be allowed a forum, via the comment section, to voice their approval or disapproval.

Congress said its meetings are open and members welcome petition and questions; however, when students are unaware or unable to attend meetings, either by choice or due to schedule conflicts, how can they question or petition Congress?

I know not every member of Congress voted to close the doors, and I applaud those representatives who recognized the consequences of closing the meeting. Under Robert’s Rules of Order, as I understand them (and I admit my knowledge of the rules leave much to be desired), they state Congress can close the meeting by voting without debate. Maybe if debate had been allowed, a voice of reason would have persuaded the other members that the recorder presented no risk to privacy and was intended to protect the Congress members from misinterpretation.

I apologize for the soliloquy, but feel completely disregarded by this Congress. I will, however, take a positive out of this. From now on, I will pay closer attention to who I vote for in Congress and will keep those I vote to Congress far more accountable for their actions than I have done in the past. Until then, I implore Congress members to allow their meetings to be recorded and made easily accessible to students. This will give the students that Congress represents an opportunity to be more aware of what Congress does and who its members are. It also will allow them the opportunity to respond to the actions of their representatives.