Editorial: Productivity: always a good idea

Published Aug. 27, 2010

After many semesters spent arguing over Robert’s Rules and calling for recall votes, the Missouri Students Association is looking for another option. And it’s about damn time.

MSA is considering purchasing clickers for senators to use for voting during full senate. The clicker results could be posted online, making the voting easier and more efficient in a multitude of ways. The results could be more accessible to the press, the student population and could also increase the accountability of the senators voting.

The clickers pose a real opportunity to make non-MSA students more involved and interested in student government because they can see what their college is voting for and know who to go to for a change.

In the past, it’s been evident that MSA’s greatest enemy is apathy. Perhaps speeding up the voting process, and not getting bogged down in hand counts, will prevent adjourning meetings early because so many senators walked out early that there couldn’t be a vote. Perhaps the clickers will mandate more issues being addressed in a speedier and productive way, so some senators don’t feel the need to start Facebooking or doing their homework rather than listening to the issues as if they don’t apply to them.

But there is, of course, the future danger that these clickers will be retrospectively seen as one of the most egregious MSA purchases of the decade. $5,000 better not be wasted because the clickers ran out of battery juice and half the senators couldn’t vote. And despite our love for MSA bureaucracy, we do not want to see a “Clicker Battery Vigilante” ad hoc committee created.

Planning out the logistics well might take some time, but if done right, they could be a massive step forward for MSA and its relationship with campus.