Internal politics is keeping the Student Association from getting where its president wants it to be.

SA President Robert McCormack said while the group has made ground, many senators still are getting used to the group.

“When you come into the Student Associaton, you have a lot of idealism and hopes for the new year,” McCormack said. “So much of your time is getting to learn the ropes, and that is very hard in such a short time.”

McCormack said two accomplishments are the campus safety manual and the publication of teacher evaluations. “We’re pleased that these sort of things are going out to benefit students, but so much more can be done,” he said.

“Each student in the SA must realize time is ticking,” McCormack said. “Students must re-evaluate why they are here.”

SA Public Relations Adviser Lara Cipolla said she thinks the SA has lagged in productivity, but said she thinks it does acheive goals.

“I’d like to see the senate look away from internal policies and look more at how they can affect the students on a day to day basis,” she said. “A lot of the problem is we spend time at the SA meetings with internal issues.”

“Presentation is the key,” said Sen. Mike Ruderman. “You have a lot of senators out there that do not know what they are voting on.”

Ruderman said most work is done in committee and reaches senate tables Sunday. “The only problem is, when (legislation) gets to the senate as a whole, it turns into a zoo,” he said.

“The senate gets the feeling that we should not argue any issue that has been through a committee,” said Sen. Paul Fabrizius.

Cipolla said she thinks the biggest problem is apathy. Skipping meetings, not taking the lead in accomplishing goals and ignoring things needing improvement are problems, she said.

“The executive board isn’t being assertive enough with their internal issues,” Ruderman said. “I think we’re regressing as a senate instead of getting things done.”

But Cippola remains optimistic. “I think that we can overcome this,” she said. “To solve it I think it is going to take a lot of leadership.”