SIS members need new methods

On Thursday, while Pitt’s Board of Trustees met in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt… On Thursday, while Pitt’s Board of Trustees met in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union, an imitation board convened outside on the porch. The false board – comprised of Students in Solidarity members in Halloween costumes – put on a satirical performance and handed out fliers criticizing the Pitt leadership. The event was typical of everything that SIS does – purposeful and valid, but with weak methods and little credibility.

For years, SIS has been defined by fliers and unusual protests. They’ve lobbied for a living wage and same-sex benefits. They’ve been spotted carrying signs saying “Pitt screws workers” and “Chancellor Mark Nordenberg is a ‘Welfare Queen.'” They once created a literal revolving door prison Downtown by the courthouse. They threw pretzels at President Bush.

If anything political – or anything that can facilitate an opinion – is going on around campus or even the city as a whole, SIS members will be there handing out leaflets. The group is persistent and tenacious. These attributes, however, are not enough to make a student organization effective on campus.

Thursday’s mock board session – highly publicized by another extensive SIS flier campaign – did nothing to sway the true Board of Trustees in any direction. It also failed to convince the student body that the Trustees are really trying to “trick everybody and treat themselves.”

By all outward appearances, this effort failed to achieve any tangible goal. But then again, that’s the way it usually goes with SIS.

Though many of their causes are admirable, SIS members are consistently unable to incite change. They love to protest, and that’s part of the problem. They do so much protesting that no one pays attention anymore. Instead of picking battles according to importance, SIS chooses to rally to every cause in sight, and their credibility diminishes in proportion.

The constant hell-raising is justified in the name of “raising awareness,” but it gets nothing done in reality. Concerned people must work within the system to change the system, but SIS is unwilling to stray from its policy of poorly attended protests in which signs outnumber those who carry them.

To become an effective and respectable organization on campus, SIS must revise its methods. Members should make appointments to meet with administrators personally rather than mocking their effigies in the street. They should organize public forums with more information than can fit on a flier. They should run for Student Government Board.

There are many ways to affect issues on campus. SIS members have admirable goals, but they must find new ways to pursue them. As it stands, they can parade in the street and shout as loud as they want, but it won’t matter because no one is listening.