What rechartering?

By Editorial

Last Thursday's open forum on the rechartering process for both the Activities Programming Board and The Santa Clara was an opportunity for students and faculty to shape certain aspects of the two organizations over the next five years.

At least, that was its intended purpose.

Only a handful showed up to the hour-long session, held in Benson Memorial Center's Williman Room, indicating either a strong degree of apathy or lack of awareness over the event. We're inclined to believe the former.

To be fair, the event may have not been widely publicized. It was also at noon on a Thursday, when students are probably trying to get a quick bite to eat or are sitting through class.

The excuses stop there.

And, to be fair again, the students who were there asked good questions: How do we spend our money? What are our readers thinking? How do we best fulfill our role as a student newspaper?

This was an opportunity for Santa Clara constituents to grill members of this student newspaper -- a publication that often receives negative feedback for story angles or opinionated pieces.

Yet, it was disappointing for only a few to take that opportunity and turn the questioners into the questioned.

This was a time to ask why The Santa Clara and APB do what they do. If our job is to serve students, then a pretty dismal showing of only a handful shows a distasteful apathy.

We believe that just as it's our responsibility to hold students, faculty and administrators accountable for their actions, they too have a similar right to question our mission as a campus organization.

The rechartering process only happens every five years -- only once in a student's undergraduate career. College is about four years of our lives, and ignoring on-campus activities and instead focusing only on the next midterm or beer run is appalling.