On Oct. 29, I received a phone call from a fellow senator informing me that the impeachment petition had been signed and would be handed in.

I thought to myself I didn’t sign up for this. I accepted my position as a freshman senator, and I did so with the intention of doing positive things.

The impeachment process is a complete waste of time. We are a student organization. Internal dissent is counterproductive and only takes us further away from our vision of students helping students.

Since day one, I have been approached about which side I was on. There should be no sides. We are all working for the students. I can assure you that no one is sitting in the SA office saying Gee.How can I screw the students?

We also must ask ourselves if these allegations truly warrant impeachment. I believe President Meisner has made mistakes, even his closest advisers will admit that. However, I am under the impression that no one is perfect. I would hate to think that we elected someone who didn’t make mistakes, because they would not be representing me – an imperfect person.

This is truly representative democracy. If President Meisner were removed based on these charges it would be unjust. The Senate would be removing President Meisner because it dislikes him both personally and professionally.

If I were a common student, I would be upset with the Senate. We are wasting so much time fighting for or against the impeachment when our time could be better spent working for the students.

The impeachment also sets a negative tone for the rest of the year. So many great things have been accomplished in the SA. We raised $1,600 for Turkish relief, returned $4,000 to students through the book exchange, got 100 new students involved, passed a resolution to keep Commencement on the Ellipse, set-up a student advocacy service, created an outstanding Web site, sponsored the GWitch Project, Executive Hour and the Foggy Bottom Cleanup and passed a resolution asking for the creation of a Muslim student center.

This is all due to vice presidents like Abby Lestition, Matt Kernkraut and Jeff Marootian and senators like Amina Chaudary, David Burt and Cathy Resler. This is the type of work we should be focusing on.

What type of precedent are we setting for the future? That if enough senators do not like the president they have the right to remove him.

If the general public feels Meisner is doing such a bad job, come March he will not be re-elected. The Senate was given the power of removal as a way to protect against serious crimes. The current charges do not rise to a level where the Senate’s power to remove should be exercised.

My solemn recommendation to whoever wrote these articles would be to put such work into his or her schoolwork rather than a well-written document which no one in real life cares about.

It is my sincere hope that my fellow senators would rise above this political witch-hunt and put forth some positive pro-student legislation.

-The writer is a Student Association senator.