So much for equitable representation and transparency! We first heard about the proposed referendum to the Undergraduate Student Government Constitution four days before the USG elections.
The proposal replaced the current representative structure from 12 day senators and four evening senators (based on a ratio of one senator for every 1,000 students from each distinction) to 16 senators without any enrollment distinctions.
Evening students often face unique constraints and situations demanding that they attend night or weekend classes. They pay their full student activity fee and have little or no opportunity to engage in the activities those fees pay for. Even when events and services are held during the evening hours while students are on campus, they are usually unable to attend because they're in class.
All the same, their voice needs to be equally represented in USG. With only four days to the election, including Saturday and Sunday when the campus is generally empty, there was little opportunity to mount a respectable counter campaign.
As evening students and USG senators newly elected to fill vacant seats, you can imagine the alarm this drastic change raised. We've heard a lot about the other proposed referendum, the increase in the student activity fee, and were fully prepared to take a supportive position; but we were completely unfamiliar with the constitutional amendments.
We are incredibly proud to be serving with such a dedicated group of student-centered advocates for the rest of the term, but in this instance, we believe USG has let down the over 3,000 evening students of Baruch. This is a shameful attempt to hinder the inclusion of a significant portion of the Baruch community.
Where was the public debate on the measure? Springing up measures like this suggests a deliberate attempt to confound voters. It seems very undemocratic.
While the proposed configuration will technically allow any student, day or evening, to run for USG, it is most likely that day students will dominate for years to come. Day students are more likely to have the time to foster the relationships necessary to align themselves with political parties and run for election.
We understand that evening students have certain responsibilities and constraints that typically make them less likely to offer the commitment USG requires. USG probably suggested these changes after experiencing a lengthy search to fill vacant evening seats.
Still, the inclusion of evening senators forces USG to consider evening students in all of their deliberations, no matter the outcome of the electoral process.
-Colin Rosenbaum and Jorge Ruiz
USG Lower Evening Senators
is a member of the 
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Making the choice to attend college in the evening is an opportunity cost.There is a song by The Rolling Stones, it's called "You Can't Always Get What You Want."In life, not everyone begin their race at the same time, and not everyone finish their race at the same time. Even if you implement Socialism and Communism into the world's economic system, it is still impossible to achieve the equality that you want.You can't always get what you want. It is up to you to adjust, make choices, and create opportunity for yourself in the Game of Life.
1. This information was made public last semester, with 1,000 undergraduates signing the petition to put the referendum on the ballot. I also recall that the Ticker covered the changes made to the USG constitution.
2. When this was approved in the USG senate, there was a vigorous debate and all four evening senators approved the constitution change.