There are too many of us and too little time to say it personally, so this we feel is the best forum.

John Quilico resigned as vice president last Sunday. To many or even most students, this was just another story, but to those of us who know a little about the SA, it means a lot more. John was one of the hardest working people in the SA. The vice presidential position is not glamorous, it is hours of boring, tedious work. John was working on updating a constitution years out of date. That required going over each page of old constitutions, old minutes and tracking down old SA members. John’s job included the duty of going over recognition packets of over 200 groups in detail to see if they dotted every “i”. John also ran the Internal Affairs Committee, through which all SA business must pass. Essentially, John was the grunt worker of the SA. He did all the work that no one else wanted.

Besides these day-to-day tasks, John was the motivator of the SA. He was the driving force behind IAC, one to be the first to volunteer for duties beyond his job description, one to decry student apathy but then try to do something about it. His loss means there is one less fighter in the war against apathy. He will be missed.

Despite the fact he is gone, John is still going to do what was his intention, help the students. His resignation was a sign of what was wrong with the SA: the conflict between getting things done and the tremendous battling egos. This is a word of warning to those who will be in the SA next year. You were elected not to fulfill fantasies of powerbroking because that is a deluded fantasy. The only power the SA has is its ability to provide a united front of the collective will of students to the administration. Once egos factionalize the SA, the administration need only divide and conquer. Once egos factionalize, the workers and motivators, slowly but surely, get so tired of it to the point where they must decide whether it is worth the effort. Thank you, John, for this lesson. I hope this resignation serves as the catalyst for thought on how this SA should be run: for the students and not for yourselves.

Michael L. Starzec

Senate Speaker

Senior