Editorial: No more distractions

Hyung Cho will keep his position on the Student Fee Committee after the group spent two weeks deciding whether or not to kick him out.

Finally. Now the committee can continue its real job.

ASPSU President Rudy Soto spoke in favor of keeping Cho on the committee. Like Cho, Soto said he felt the accusations against Cho were based on personal problems rather than job performance. The same night, the committee was nearly split, but still voted “no confidence” in Cho.

Though some members of the SFC didn’t listen to Soto’s voice of reason, we’re glad SFC Chair Amanda Newberg did. Instead of taking the matter to the Judicial Board, the next step in removing Cho from the committee, she decided to drop the case. Kudos, Newberg, for realizing how petty the entire discussion was and how much time it wasted.

As hard as it has been for the SFC to retain members this year, it’s a wonder that the committee would consider kicking out someone who wants to be there. Cho told the Vanguard yesterday, after finding out his job was safe, that he enjoys working on the SFC.

The only thing this process did was foster contention among SFC members. Instead of battling each other, they should be battling the budget–together–to put students’ money in the right places.

Working on the SFC is not easy. The job is meticulous and time consuming, but essential to the way student life operates. The committee members should be applauded for their work and for essentially volunteering their time. However, they must remember that bickering within the ranks is extremely harmful to the process.