Leadership?

The lack of leadership in the Associated Students of the University of Arizona has never been as apparent as it was its Central Coordinating Council meeting held Thursday. Although the constitution should have been voted on at the Jan. 23 meeting, it took until yesterday morning for ASUA to get its act together and finally vote.

Forget about the lackadaisical approach to the new constitution, forget about the fact that without the attendance of the three members of the Graduate and Professional Student Council who sit on the CCC, the CCC is operating improperly and in violation of its own constitution and bylaws , and forget that the treasurer has been chairing the meetings for almost the whole year, which also violates its constitution.

But don't forget the most recent debacle Thursday when the CCC could not even gather all of the members to ratify the new ASUA constitution. Vice President for Programs and Services Mindy McCollum was remiss in her duties; she should have been at the meeting to vote.

Instead, McCollum reportedly was taking a shower to prepare for sorority spring rush activities. Besides being an ASUA vice president, for which McCollum receives a yearly stipend of $3,500, she is also the president of Alpha Phi sorority.

When asked about missing the meeting, McCollum's response was that ASUA President Rhonda Wilson had postponed it twice. It is true that the meeting had been rescheduled twice, but the members of CCC were notified both by e-mail and through their scheduling software.

Nice try, McCollum. The fact is that she skipped out on the job students elected her to do and pay her for. Instead, she decided to prepare for sorority rush, a job that only benefits Alpha Phi.

It would be easy to blame only McCollum, but the reality is that the problems within ASUA begin at the top. If Wilson had not repeatedly rescheduled the CCC meeting, delaying the vote, it's possible all members would have attended.

ASUA could not move on with other business until the new constitution was approved.

If the president puts off deciding upon issues that can have such an impact on students, what is the impetus for the rest of the elected and appointed officials in ASUA to act in the best interest of the students, or to even care?