Letter to the Editor from SGA President Tau Zaman

By Tau Zaman
September 13, 2012 at 3:14 am

Dear Editor,

I was impressed with the discerning lens by which last issue’s editorial analyzed the College’s handling of the asbestos problem—I suspected something was amiss when the mass email sent out to the student body neatly resolved with a nothing-to-fear, nothing-to-see-here reassurance. I’m glad that the editorial board pointed out that the email’s appeal to students’ concerns for their own safety could be a way of deflecting the College’s true liability in the matter.

Surely no one was trying to be dishonest. But, the email claimed that at no point was asbestos detected in the air—it did not address the Attorney General’s office claim that the consultant could not reach all areas of the Colonial building and recommended further testing. Nor did it mention the quarter of a million dollars the College agreed to pay in penalties! Considering that the student body’s money makes up 90% of the College’s revenue, I’m not happy with my dollars going toward that. 

I cannot help but feel hurt that the College would not be forthcoming with that kind of information with me and the student body. We place immense trust in this institution—to educate us, to make us into the professionals we wish to become—but also to keep us safe and use our money responsibly. I encourage the Beacon to take the same critical eye it has always had on SGA and apply it to the College as a whole.

Yours,

Tau Zaman

Student Government Association

Executive President