The system of student governance in AUB is indeed one of the most unique in the world. No university has such a complicated system of student representation; no university has a committee of students, faculty and administrators that tackles student issues as is the case with our USFC.  One of the tasks of student representatives over the past few years was to overcome the difficulties of this system and to come up with reform plans. Ambitious projects such as the "student congress" faced several difficulties and obstacles and turned out to be impractical.  Adding a new student organization including the 92 student representatives of the University is too idealistic.
     I am not discrediting the efforts  previously employed in achieving such a project; they constituted a necessary experience for students to learn from. I am also not refuting the need to reform the current system of student representation, neither the need for a new organization  that would represent the student body at large.
     One of the main problems facing student organizations is the issue of duties and prerogatives.  A question such as, "Who voices the concerns of students," has various answers. While exclusivity should be the governing concept, overlapping of authority seems to be the practice.  In many instances, projects not passed through the USFC have found their way through the local SRC or the local society. To unite the student body, we should decide on an organization that has to voice our concerns and demands, organize our social life and promote our academic and professional careers. The overlapping of duties and prerogatives that is taking place on the level of student clubs is gaining ground in the student representational system. 
     Take a look at the USFC.  We clearly see that it is composed of three distinct parts: students, faculty and administrators. While students are elected on a two-stage basis (class and faculty) for a term of one year, faculty members are elected directly for a two-year term. Since the USFC voices the concerns of students in the first place, faculty members do not have the same representational powers as the students.  Although administrators and faculty members have the full right to vote on projects, they cannot serve in the positions of vice-president, treasurer or secretary of the committee. This reminds us of the rule of "six to six repeated" in the Lebanese state. 
    Since the USFC tackles student issues of the University as a whole, I don't see why it should be divided among the various University faculties. Also, I don't see why it should include administrators with full voting rights. What needs to be done is to have an independent student council elected directly by the student body at large without any restrictions on the respective representation of the six faculties of AUB. The council itself would appoint faculty members as advisors as is the case in student clubs.
I am not denying the fact that the positions taken by some faculty members of the USFC have always been more responsible and concerned with the students' interests than the positions taken by the student representatives themselves.  But this defect is the price of democracy: If students are not mature enough to elect responsible representatives, it is simply their problem.  Students must be confronted with this possibility in order for them to be up to the responsibility of electing trustworthy representatives. 
     This mode of elections would involve a broader majority of students in campus life, thus preparing students to join syndicates and unions once they graduate. This will also shape the idea of democratic practices among students, who have also the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Also this will simulate political activity among students, a must for the education of every Lebanese student.  Finally, and most importantly, this system will give the student body a true independent student government with powers comparable to that of any syndicate in the country.  It will allow students to take a more active role in governing the University and in having their say on the political level in the country.   Ask about the student council AUB use to have in the seventies to understand what I mean. 
     As for the other students, they will be restricted to student clubs and departmental societies that would deal with issues relevant to each department.  For example students of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department would concentrate their activities in the "institute of electrical and electronics engineers" student branch, and PSPA students would do their activities through their society.  Each one of those local organizations woulf have its own budget coming directly from the tuition fees paid by the students of the department. The "student council" should have its own share of the funds taken from the tuition fees.
     What needs to be done is a step forward in institutionalizing democracy in student representation. This project has also its national dimension in confronting students with the realities they will have to face once they graduate and become professionals. Following the example of Lebanese university students in the Student Federation of the Lebanese University," AUB students have to promote their role on the national level.