I can not say how much I agree with the May 7th editorial posing questions to the Student Government Association. While I firmly believe in the organization, its roots, and its deep desire to better the Northeastern community, the sheer lack of knowledge that the average student possesses about the SGA simply scares me. I have seen surveys that lead me to believe that over 90 percent of the student body has little to no knowledge of the SGA, their primary voice to the administration and indeed their governing body.
As a candidate for the position of Vice President for Administration, if elected it would be my job (and yes JOB, because the executive board is well compensated) to spread the word about the SGA among other things. The framework of the SGA gives the VP for Administration all Public Relations responsibilities for the association in addition to its managerial and internal tasks.
So how is this all relevant?
The administration of this school will never listen to the students and in affect will never fully listen to the Student Government Association until we all recognize that the two groups are indeed one whole student body! The horizon is bright next year, especially with the good candidates that are running for office. Understand that each office exists to serve the student body in some way. No matter what your issue or complaint is, there is someone in SGA that you can complain and/or vent to, and mark my words, your problems will be addressed.
Unfortunately, most students simply do not know that.
Unfortunately, the job of VP for Administration, whose job it is to inform everyone, has been seen as a secretary and an administrator, and its role in running all outreach and student relations efforts has been undermined in recent years.
Why was the student activity fee increased? Because the students wanted to increase it!
Every dollar that we spend on the Student Activities Fee goes right back to us ten times. It is up to us as students to see that there is a club for almost every single hobby or interest that we have and that any group of motivated students can start a new student group! The “Times New Roman” is a perfect example of students who decided to get involved and start their own “Onion-like” newspaper. I salute any student’s effort to get more involved!
It is not the students’ fault that they are not aware of the SGA, what it can do for them, student groups, clubs, and about a million other things. The marketing has simply not been there. But know this: while the student senate may elect the SGA e-board, YOU, the student are the boss. The SGA works for you. At the very least you should know that, and I have already begun to ensure that.
– John Guilfoil is a freshman criminal justice major and an SGA student senator.
