On Tuesday the Undergraduate Student Government Senate voted in a new senate president, Erin Ferris. This came after the original president, Michelle Wood, announced her resignation last week. There are also seven other vacant senate seats.

USG is supposed to be a democratic body, but how can it function democratically if several of the people voted in resign and are replaced by persons appointed by other senators?

Is this really a representative body of the student population when a third of those elected have already quit and the student body will not be able to choose their replacements?

USG is in a desperate search -- a search for respect and effectiveness. When eight members quit before the semester even really begins, it hurts the group's reputation and effectiveness. If those elected are unprepared for their duties, why should students take USG seriously?

USG cannot allow so many members to quit in the future. Clearly, those running for office are not being adequately prepared for the responsibilities they must fulfill if they are elected.

Though USG has an information session regarding the election process, Vice President Takkeem Morgan said no such program exists to tell hopeful members what to expect in terms of responsibilities and time commitment. Morgan said it is assumed candidates will attend senate meetings and investigate their possible future positions.

Obviously, many candidates do not do this, as is evident by the recent wave of resignations. USG should consider having these information sessions to give candidates a better picture of what USG entails. Perhaps these should be required. Also, those running should possibly be required to shadow the person in the position they want to run for, to see what an average day for that person is like.

It's nothing new for the USG to have resignations; there were several last year. The fact that this year's resignations are coming within the first two weeks of the Fall Semester proves that those who run for office are often not well enough prepared.

For the sake of the organization and for the sake of democracy on campus, USG needs to take steps to ensure this does not continue in the future.