Opinion

Student questions motives for kiosk removal
By Erika Forslund/Guest Columnist

When I came to school on Monday I could not help but notice that something was different. Something was missing.

Over the weekend, the two smoking booths in the concourse were removed. This was not only inconvenient, but it also made me very angry. Many other students have been irate this week over the change, and it seems every day someone complains about it. Nobody knew what had happened or why. Many students remarked that nobody asked what they wanted.

This is a serious problem. The smoking student body did not seem to be considered in this decision, and we felt slighted. The student government did not properly represent the student body in their decision to remove the booths.

It would not have been hard to find a few smokers to ask, but this was not done. Instead, we were blindsided. There were many ways we could have been informed so that we could offer our opinion, but these were not done. Maybe it would not have changed the result, but at least we would have been given the opportunity.

There has also been no explanation given as to why it happened. When we feel excluded from decisions that affect us, powerless to change things, and apathetic to even try, it paints a grim picture of our future. However, actions like this are what make people feel that government does what government wants.

Some have asked me if I attend the student government meetings, pointing out that I would have had the opportunity to speak up if I had. Some have said that there are a large number of people in the student government who really do their best to represent all of us accurately. To answer the first question, I do not attend the meetings. Many students do not have the time to get involved in their student government, myself included. As to the second question, there are not very many people on the student government. There are 33 people (to my knowledge) but thousands of students. When compared, the student government can not hope to accurately represent the needs and desires of the student body by themselves. They must at least attempt to actively engage us.

This is a problem that even non-smokers can relate to. If the student government is making decisions without consulting the students, then who are they making these decisions for? According to their online records, they have thousands of dollars to spend each year. If I have read it right, they have $100,000 this year. This money should be spent wisely and with careful consideration. They should be in touch with what students actually want and need, not what a committee decides without us.

This is a serious flaw in how this money is handled. The rules that we conform to and the policies we change will be passed on. You may not care about the smoking booths, but what about the methods behind the removal? What if (without consulting students) they decided to add more booths instead? Would it be bad policy then? Would you at least want to be notified?

I understand that Mt. Hood is probably moving towards a non-smoking campus altogether. On that note, I also think the smoking booths are an eyesore, but the real issue is the action behind the ruling. We should have a say in what happens here and how this money is spent. We should be given a chance to speak up. Democracy is about letting people be heard. In this case, I feel we were silenced. We were unable to participate in the process because we were not informed on even a basic level. If we see it as bad policy when the American government passes laws behind closed doors, why would it be good policy here?

— Erika Forslund, an MHCC student, wrote this essay for her WR122 class.