BRITTANY YEAROUT
News Assistant
Student Government Asso-ciation members created committees to address student issues and spoke to a Public Safety representative about parking. This weekend SGA officials will hold a retreat with a surprise location for the senators and presidents.
The committees all pertain to issues that SGA members said matter to students.
They involve the student handbook, social issues and advocacy, housing and community living, health center, constitutional review, academics, canvassing and parking and public safety.
The new social issues and advocacy committee focuses on the promotion of local, national and world events, according to chairman junior Brendan Groves.
“In Sudan and the Darfur region right now, almost 200,000 people have perished in the civil strife and suffering,” Groves said. “And we are going to try to use SGA’s funds to almost serve as a public relations interface and to get the awareness out of all these issues.”
In addition to forming committees, SGA President Leon Dixson invited Assistant Director of Public Safety Dawn Emrich to facilitate open communication throughout the university, departments and students.
It is a tradition for the executive board to invite various departments to speak to the SGA members.
“SGA is supposed to be the liaison between students and various departments on the university,” Dixson said. “So it is our responsibility to be knowledgeable about what is going on in the university.”
Another concern raised at the meeting was parking. Questions were raised regarding where students can park, why they can’t park in specific areas and if Public Safety could be more lenient on parking tickets.
To better communicate with students, Emrich has been working with one of the university’s vice presidents regarding parking issues.
Together they have been developing resources to make available to community members.
A tangible resource or a Web site would be helpful and Emrich will make sure it is available before the start of a new academic year.
“I think something more visual that people can kind of see at a glance where they can park and something more user friendly … just kind of trying to shift the expectation a little bit might alleviate some of the frustration that people feel,” Emrich said.
Dixson and Emrich started meeting last summer to talk about SGA goals. Forging a relationship with key student leaders is essential to have resources for exchanging information, according to Emrich.
“It is an opportunity to build relationships in the event of an emergency or a critical incident,” Emrich said. “For example, when there is wild land fire, we will rely on key student leaders to get information out.”
Emrich said she views SGA as being representative of all the student body. If there is a pervasive opinion, question or concern within the SGA, it is likely to be a pervasive opinion, question or feedback from the student body, she said.
Along with information from Emrich, a resolution was passed to provide for the installation of benches at shuttle stops for the Drescher apartments, uphill main campus, Tyler/Via Pacifica and the Center for Communication and Business.
Although this may seem insignificant, it is something that affects students on a daily basis, senior class president Julie Chang said.
“I think it is a small thing that we can actually see accomplished,” Chang said.
11-01-2005