When I first heard that the Student Action Coalition had swept the A.S. elections, one question jumped into my mind.

“Was nobody here this whole year?”

“Well, they are diverse,” a friend of mine helpfully suggested.

Myself, I really don’t care about the color of the person who represents me. Or the gender. Or the shoe size. All I want is someone who may be able to get something done.

Anything, in fact. It doesn’t even matter what. As long as all that money that A.S. takes away from me goes to something other than paper trails.

There’s not much else that’s being left to the brave souls taking office next year. Scandalous absenteeism, interesting reinterpretations of the A.S. Constitution that were beneficial to those currently in power and the ever-problematic budget issues. There certainly were some achievements, including a push for waterless urinals and other important environmental steps forward, but by and large, they seemed more confused and irresponsible than anything else.

They never resolved the budget issues, only bitched about them and then asked us for money. Though I do have to hand it to A.S. for trying to pass the Sliding Scale Elections Amendment to their constitution instead of another plea for an A.S. base fee increase. Had it passed, they might’ve been able to get one by easier next time. Sneaky.

They didn’t stop the war in Iraq, but they sure bitched about it. By the way, if anyone can explain what A.S. thought passing a resolution opposing the war – despite not having the full support of the student body – would do other than make them feel all warm and fuzzy inside, please write to the Nexus via e-mail and do so.

We haven’t even gotten to the good stuff. Our beloved president broke the A.S. bylaws and used the weight of her position as president of the student body of UCSB to endorse Gail Marshall, a liberal political candidate for 3rd District supervisor. One would hope that the president would be at least mildly familiar with the A.S. Constitution.

Recently, a recurrent problem with Leg Council just climaxed brilliantly: At their April 23 meeting, they failed to make quorum – the minimum number of Leggies needed to hold a meeting. Talking with a friend the other day, he asked me a good question:

“If these people aren’t showing up to their meetings, then how are they representing me?”

Leg Council has had so much trouble, in fact, that at their March 6 meeting, eight members were considered for removal due to an excessive number of unexcused absences. After a good deal of arguing and mildly relevant bitching, none were removed. Good ol’ Leggies, sticking up for each other through thick and thin. Their constituents’ interests may not have been forefront in their minds, but their own sure were.

At that same meeting, S.A.C. member and Off-Campus Representative Anthony Flores announced his intention not to run again for next year. “This ship is sinking fast and I’m going to be one of the first rats off.”

What a marvelous vote of confidence from one of S.A.C.’s own. That sort of brings me back to that first question I had. It certainly looks like Flores was around for this whole freakish performance by S.A.C. as our student government.

Last time they ran, they hadn’t demonstrated their outstanding incompetence yet. So seeing the S.A.C. sweep last spring wasn’t quite as shocking. The Gauchoholics weren’t particularly brilliant in their performance in office. And a couple of them were even conservative – interesting side note: For all the four-letter words I use, that one feels even dirtier.

Which leads to another point: A party whose views are all in the same general area of liberality doesn’t exactly strike me as diverse. But I forget that it’s what’s outside that counts.

To the new batch of S.A.C.s getting ready to take office for next year, I have a bit of hope for you: All you really have to do to outdo this year’s A.S. is show up to your meetings, not break A.S. rules and listen to the students. And double-check anything you put on the ballots.

In other words, reinvent S.A.C. I believe you can.

Daily Nexus assistant opinion editor Cory Anthony wishes the best of luck to the future members of A.S.