Sunshine Week: Open up your government

Shane Wade
Opinion Editor

Although Sunshine Week has nothing to do with Spring Break, for constituents and those interested in government transparency it’s equally as important.

Sunshine Week is a weeklong celebration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted in 1967, that allows for individuals and organizations to request specific information and records from public agencies.

On the national level, we’ve shown a fair amount of improvement in terms record accessibility during recent years. OpenGovernment.org, a bipartisan partner of numerous organizations committed to government transparency, recently found that the U.S. government met most of its 2011 commitments.

President Barack Obama’s administration has made strong efforts to promote agency transparency in 2012, including processing 5.5 percent more FOIA requests, maintaining a 93.4 percent release rate, improving processing times and, most importantly, disclosing more information proactively.

It’s one step to allow and encourage citizens to lobby their governing bodies for information, but it’s much more encouraging and responsible to release pertinent information that’s of public interest proactively.

True transparency exists in an institution that is forthcoming with information because it shows that the institution is readily accountable and unafraid to display their actions.

Locally, The Commonwealth Times made a number of requests to VCU regarding issues including the university’s contract with G4S security, drone research and the existence of contracts between our School of Engineering and NASA or the U.S. Navy. Four requests were fulfilled, two requests had no existing records and one request was denied because of provisions under another law.

Although the information we requested and consequently received isn’t particularly startling or groundbreaking, it was still an important use of our rights as civilians and members of the press. A free and empowered press can effectively act as a fourth branch of government in democracies, checking overreaches of power by any and all other branches by reporting to the public.

Even though agencies are legally bound to answer FOIA requests, it’s equally important that the information requested is being put to use if we’re to “check and balance” affronts to constitutional or ethical law.

State Integrity Investigation, a public collaborative project for government transparency advocates, gave Virginia an “F” and ranked us 47th out of 50 states because Virginia lacks a state ethics commission, has no campaign finance limits and has relatively lax oversight rules, among other criteria.

If you’re looking to make changes to our state’s current system of government, VCU is the best place for you to be because it’s just a few blocks from the state Capitol.

Change is within walking distance. Lobby for accountability and transparency. There aren’t many lobbyists in Washington dedicated to advancing the rights and causes of students, despite our potential and importance to the future stability of the nation. We are underrepresented and overlooked.

You don’t have to wait for Sunshine Week to do so. You don’t have to be a member of the media to do so; if a group or organization that you’re a member of feels somehow slighted by the government or government institution, whether it be the federal, state or local, take action, make a FOIA request and let people know.

Between the numerous platforms of social media, the White House petition website, local news outlets, the canvass that is the city of Richmond’s street corners and open, public space venues, it’s entirely possible for your message to be distributed beyond your immediate circle of friends.