Civic Work, Civic Lessons by Ehrlich Thomas;Fu Ernestine;

Author:Ehrlich, Thomas;Fu, Ernestine;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: UPA
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Ernestine

Losses, failures, and mistakes splashed the headlines of the Stanford Daily and Stanford Review, criticizing our student government. A room in Old Union decorated with soft body pillows, plushy beanbags, and colorful finger paintings had been called the Wellness Room. It was a student-government project under Student Services Division and intended to promote healthy living by providing a place for relaxation on campus. But in reality, many students condemned the Wellness Room as simply being like a children’s playroom. Perhaps even worse was the Shuttle Service. It was created to provide affordable transportation for students traveling back and forth from campus to the airport. But it was criticized for its continuous financial loss and lack of ability to cater to the entire student body. During my freshman year, for example, the winter-break shuttles had cost student government about $13,000 but only about $11,000 was made in revenue. Essentially, student government was subsidizing the cost of rides home for only a limited number students, and this caused the program to be highly criticized, especially as student-government funds were aggregated from general student fees that all students at Stanford contributed to. The Stanford Daily quoted various members of the Undergraduate Senate who noted “the tremendously wasteful nature of the program,” and some even expressed “doubt that the ASSU shuttle bus program will be renewed.” Many undergraduate students debated extensively on the merits of the program.

Wellness Room and Shuttle Service were two of many service programs that were all a part of Student Services Division (SSD), then one of the four main branches of student government. SSD oversaw student-initiated programs and projects within student government. Debates about these two programs soon turned into debates on the virtues of SSD itself. Undergraduate senators debated whether it was even worth providing the director with a stipend, whether other programs within SSD such as Tutoring for Community should be cut from funding, and in extreme cases, whether SSD was even worth the energy. When I joined SSD near the end of my freshman year, it was simply a mess, to say the very least.

Reviving a “failed,” dying organization is far from easy. I was hired as deputy director of SSD, while a senior classmate, Elaine Albertson, was the executive director. I had been involved in student government throughout my freshman year, and several student leaders thought Elaine and I would work well together to revive the organization.

Elaine was a delight to work with. She would always bring treats to our meetings as we called potential partner companies to compare shuttle costs and services, created a marketing plan, recruited freshman interns to assist us, and worked together to turn around the Shuttle Service. We met with our interns every other day, student leaders every week, and the director of the Haas Center for Public Service every month. Over many months, we poured in hours working at Old Union, where the student-government offices were located. We shaped projects focused on arts and entertainment such as Stanford Concert Network,

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