I wrote some time ago about Katy Bowers and Ali Gibbons running for President and Vice President of the non-Student Government Association. Well, it seems they have been hard at work with their campaign and staff, and I am pleased to report several new pieces of information.
Their party will be called S.O.S. – Serving Our Students. How cute. Its pretty funny that their party is S.O.S., known in the real world as the International Distress Signal. Maybe this actually stands for Save Our SGA (since it could be dissolved during the election). Their campaign’s three main goals also fit their acronym.
- Student lounges across campus
- Organization liaisons [Editor's Note: part of the platforms for the winning campaigns for the past 2 years]
- Safe rides program
The S.O.S. Party has already purchased a domain name and web hosting (against campaign rules), and you can see their site here and their ownership records here (click and enter ‘campaignsos.com’).
[Update: After having the issue brought up to me, I redacted the personal information I had previously listed below. But, it is still available in the whois for their campaign website. To view, click here and enter 'campaignsos.com'. I apologize, but I only posted what Ms. Weiss had already posted online for the whole world to see. See you guys (and gals), all you have to do is talk to me.]
Domain Name.......... campaignsos.com Creation Date........ 2006-12-03 Registration Date.... 2006-12-03 Expiry Date.......... 2007-12-03 Organisation Name.... Allison A Weiss Organisation Address. **** ************ *** Organisation Address. Organisation Address. *************** Organisation Address. ***** Organisation Address. GA Organisation Address. UNITED STATES Admin Name........... Allison A Weiss Admin Address........ *** *********** *** Admin Address........ Admin Address........ ************ Admin Address........ ***** Admin Address........ GA Admin Address........ UNITED STATES Admin Email.......... *********@yahoo.com Admin Phone.......... +1.678******* Admin Fax............
One of the senators running with the S.O.S. party just emailed me the “Intended Senator Goals” for the all the S.O.S. senators, and the funny text is after the jump (.doc format and .pdf format):
[Don't ask - this shitty formatting is compliments of the S.O.S. Party. If you have problems, read the pdf]
Franklin College
1) Will Spence –
1) Student’s problems with JExam and the administration’s steps to address them
2) Take unanswered student concerns to the administrators to JExam to find out if it is feasible for anything to be done about these problems
3) Fix these problems if feasible.
2) Nisha Gupta –
1) work on creating more open forums to connect students and Franklin Deans
2) Create a better relationship between SGA and the various multicultural
organizations by appointing more liaisons
3) Selena Robinson –
1) Advising /Develop a two pronged cohesive information guide for those who are pre-med, pre-law, pre-dent, and etc.
Too many people are pre-med and have no idea what that entails, as well as what top colleges expect of those who are pre-med, pre-law, etc.
2) Work with Nisha on extending diversity initiatives
4) Abby Oakley –
1) Break down communication barriers between Franklin administration and students (i.e. make smaller)
2) Be vigilant and VISIBLE
5) Sara Andrzejewski
1) Implement a Medical Amnesty Policy
As the current Alcohol Policy stands, any attempt to seek medical attention on behalf of a fellow student or yourself will result in University Judicial sanctions. I will continue to work hard to demonstrate the need for this type of policy and collaborate with the administration to create a policy that will promote a culture of safety rather than one of fear.
2) Found a Woman’s Crisis Center
I will follow through with this year’s Freshman Board group project to create a satellite office of the Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia on UGA’s campus. This propsed women’s center will be a 24 hour office where students who have been raped or sexually assaulted can come to receive not only medical attention but also a place where they can feel comfortable and safe
6) Maranie Brown
1) I would like to improve upon the way the Premedical Studies Program is set up. Pre-Med students typically meet with Dr. R. Alan Langford during or after their second semester sophomore year. Perhaps pre-med students should begin to meet earlier to make sure that they are taking the appropriate classes towards their majors and to avoid having to compete with the upperclassmen for necessary assistance. Also this would help students to prepare for the right classes to avoid having to stay at UGA for a fifth year, instead of going to medical school. I would be extremely disappointed if I were taking classes that were unnecessary towards my major and then be told in my junior year that those classes were not needed.
2) I would suggest that more dorms be created to house freshman. Instances are occurring where three to four freshmen have had to share one room. Overcrowding is definitely a problem within the dorms, especially the high-rises. Rooms that are not initially assigned to be dorm rooms are being turned into them to accommodate the increasing number of students needing housing. Also, I do not necessarily agree with the freshman dorms being on the outskirts of campus. Even though the dorms are somewhat in the heart of campus (i.e. close to the SLC, Tate, and Sanford) they really do not provide first year students with the safest living circumstances. Especially since there is no gate keeping outsiders out, the outskirts of campus is not the best place to house first-year students.
7) Morgan-Taylor Copper
Campus wide –
Encourage a beautification of campus environment
Recycling bins next to ever R&B receptacle
Recycling bins in the SLC, Tate Plaza, outside all the dorms
Improve wireless connectivity in the Freshman dorms and on South Campus
Franklin College
Work with Academic Affairs to improve academic advising process in
Franklin College
Those with high GPAs should be allowed to register earlier
Increase Academic Rigor
I am aware of Early Registration benefits of the Blue Card/Honors receive
Small Projects
Ben, if you don’t mind, the SLC reading room chairs
Hand sanitizer in large buildings/highly populated areas
Toilet seat covers in dorms
Matthew Martin
1) Promote a new grade appeal process, whereby students can appeal a test grade not only on grounds of personal bias on their professor’s part, but also be able to appeal on grounds of academic fairness of a grade. Currently, professors are given complete autonomy over their grading on concerns of academic fairness
2) Develop a student led program within SGA, sole purpose to recruit better professors to UGA’s campus. If professors see that the students actually want them to be faculty, then they would be more likely to come and be a part of UGA. This idea would also be favorable to UGA’s administration because it would help increase UGA’s academic rigor and national rankings
Terry College of Business
9) Amrita Veliyath
1) Get students involved in helping select the new dean of Terry. George Benson will be leaving Terry soon and the new dean will shape the direction of Terry College in the future. Current plans are for Dr. Hoyt to serve as interim dean while the University conducts a national search for a replacement. Students should take an active role in helping with the selection process. Perhaps a group of students could be organized to interview finalists and give an opinion on who would be the best choice from the student’s perspective
2) Foster better relations between Terry College students and the university at large. Build connection with several of the Terry College clubs and organizations such as the dean’s council and the business fraternities and the major oriented societies. Build connections through co-sponsoring events and meetings on a regular basis with leaders of the Terry College organizations
Warnell
10) Jess McNeil
1) STUDENTS STUDENTS STUDENTS!!!! I hope to use my positions in SGA to recruit students for Warnell. I think people are not fully aware of the many opportunities my school as to offer students. I hope to utilize the resources within SGA to better “advertise” what Warnell has to offer students at UGA.
2) My other goal is to be an advocate for the students of Warnell. As a whole the student body is not aware of the events going on at UGA and the opportunities they have to be involved all over campus. I want to be a mediator between the University and my school so that they will be included with the rest of campus. On the flip side, I hope to inform the University through SGA about the events and opportunities at Warnell.
Public Health
11) Brendan Wright
1) Raise Awareness for the College of Public Health
2) Take steps toward making the College of Public Health one of the best in the nation being mentioned in the same sentence as UAB and UNC
Education
12) Kelli Sims
As an intended candidate for senator from the College of Education, I plan to work for these two specific goals:
1) To improve communication between students in the COE through use of visibility, on my part, in places where COE students are, and a system for suggestion collection, so that students’ needs will be heard and acted upon, and
2) To work with the administration of the COE to improve advisement for COE students, including (but not limited to) the prospect of longer walk-in advisement hours
SPIA
13) Ubani Ukuku
1. Improve communication about the school to incoming
Freshmen who are prospective SPIA students (possibly a
mini-orientation about the school and program for these
students)
2. Create more internships through SPIA that is “domestic”
rather than abroad (i.e. other southeast schools have
internships that students stay and work through the
Political Science department with a professor and get
free room/board and a stipend–schools such as UMich,
UCLA, Auburn, UF, and a multitude of other schools have
these type of internships)
14) Connor McCarthy
1. The most pressing issue faced by SPIA students is inability to register for courses based on unavailability. This is unfair to students who are withheld from registering for courses like INTL 3200 or INTL 3300, the two core courses requiring INTL 1100 as a prerequisite, unless they have accumulated 60 hours worth of credit. Any students having more than one major and a large percentage of SPIA students do, whill have much trouble graduating in four years
2. The second issue that needs to be addressed is communication. No one knows what goes on in the walls of Candler Hall. No one knows about advising appointments and course requests. Granted, Paul Welch is very good about informing students about attending events, but it is a very rare occasion to learn about becoming involved with an organization within the school.
Pharmacy
-
Bailey Guest –
1) Offer more guidance and preparation for pre-pharmacy students through more admission sessions and PCAT reviews taught by pharmacy students. Also, perhaps an e-mail account could be created for pre-pharmacy students to ask current students questions when they desire a student’s perspective instead of the admissions office.
2) Encourage the admissions committee to make direct pharmacy experience a requirement for acceptance into the College of Pharmacy to ensure that the student knows that being a pharmacist is their profession of choice.
3) Make sure the admissions board views an applicant’s character and involvement in activities outside of school just as important as their GPA and PCAT. Seek applicants with determination and a solid work ethic. I understand that this is difficult criteria to determine through limited time with the admissions board, but with a nationwide shortage of almost 200,000 pharmacists, we need future pharmacists to be dedicated to the field of pharmacy.
4) Push the College of Pharmacy to be ABSOLUTELY intolerable to any form of dishonesty that hurts the integrity of our institution. (I can explain this one further to you if needed, but if you think it needs to be removed, I am willing to eliminate it.)
5) Get the pharmacy/pre-pharmacy students together to be more involved with the community through fundraisers and opportunities such as Mercy Health Center.
Alison Tucker- College of Family and Consumer Sciences
-
Space- Dawson Hall (Main Home to FACS) is completely filled up and FACS is still in terrible need for more space. Some Faculty offices are in closets, while others faculty aren’t even in Dawson, making it very hard for students and their professors to have sufficient interaction and communication outside the classroom. Dawson is number one priority on the list for getting more space and I want to see that it stays this way until the need it met.
-
Class Size- Even in some of the upper level courses, classes in FACS are larger than they should be with 80-100 students in TMI courses and 280 students in HACE courses. I would like to see these student/teacher ratios reduced.
-
Summer Classes- Very few summer classes in FACS are offered including zero Foods and Nutrition courses. With the increased interest in summer classes in the past few years, I would like to contact the Vice President of Instruction and work on getting more FACS summer courses offered.
{ 24 } Comments
At most, two of these goals will even be attempted.
As an education major, I would like to say that kelli simms goals arent even really problems for most college of ed students. Advisement is bad, but its not because of a lack of walk-in hours, its because the people that advise you before you enter your major don’t know what they are talking about. And her first goal is completely vague… how about talking to food services about getting a better food stand on the first floor?? A much better goal that would help hungry college of ed students (since a most people actually IN their ed major use it all the time, because classes are usually scheduled back-to-back through lunch time) And does kelli even know anything about being a college of ed major? or is she a freshman that is an “intending’ major?
So let’s see what my SPIA senators have planned for me this year:
13) Ubani Ukuku
1. Improve communication about the school to incoming
Freshmen who are prospective SPIA students (possibly a
mini-orientation about the school and program for these
students)
- A mini-orientation to the incredible bureaucratic morass of SPIA would definitely be a good idea. However, I do believe if a student wants to major in polysci or intl affairs he/she will simply select that major. It’s not like SPIA can fit many more students anyway.
2. Create more internships through SPIA that is “domestic”
rather than abroad (i.e. other southeast schools have
internships that students stay and work through the
Political Science department with a professor and get
free room/board and a stipend–schools such as UMich,
UCLA, Auburn, UF, and a multitude of other schools have
these type of internships)
- First, learn the difference between is/are (what is it with SGA people and grammar problems?). Then, please link me to these other internships because I’m not sure exactly what they involve. Are they research fellowships? There’s the CURO program for that already. Are they internships in DC? The Isakson/Chambliss internships already exist. Are they internships with the state legislature? Those already exist as well. Are they internships with the Center for International Trade and Security? Those already exist too. Now I’m not one to oppose the creation of more research internships, but we need to find out if there is demand for such a program, where the money will come from, and all the other details.
14) Connor McCarthy
1. The most pressing issue faced by SPIA students is inability to register for courses based on unavailability. This is unfair to students who are withheld from registering for courses like INTL 3200 or INTL 3300, the two core courses requiring INTL 1100 as a prerequisite, unless they have accumulated 60 hours worth of credit. Any students having more than one major and a large percentage of SPIA students do, whill have much trouble graduating in four years
- Any solutions, Connor? Some people, none in SGA, have publicly made suggestions as to how to rectify this situation. Are you willing to take on the administration and rally SPIA students around this issue? You ought to be, because it’s an enormously difficult problem. And what will you do about the problem of enormous class sizes in the upper-level classes? Also, I’d recommend that you use dashes instead of a single comma in the last sentence.
2. The second issue that needs to be addressed is communication. No one knows what goes on in the walls of Candler Hall. No one knows about advising appointments and course requests. Granted, Paul Welch is very good about informing students about attending events, but it is a very rare occasion to learn about becoming involved with an organization within the school.
-Communication definitely needs to be improved, but pray tell what organizations are there to get involved with via SPIA? Mock Trial? Model UN? Those already go out on the SPIA listserv and word of mouth about them is pretty good already. I don’t know what goes on in Candler Hall, but I think everyone in SPIA knows about appointments and course requests. Here are some real goals to accomplish instead: overhauling the advising system, adding more walk-in hours, and making the advisors more knowledgeable/friendly. Also, someone should do an audit of the course advising system to determine if it works at all. All the anecdotal evidence I’ve heard of suggests a pattern of complete randomness (as does my own experience) but we need firm evidence that students are getting screwed over to get SPIA to change that.
Based on what I’ve seen here, I doubt SGA will have any impact on SPIA yet again this year. I hope these two can prove this pronouncement wrong, but I won’t be holding my breath.
To my new SPIA senators (since I already know you will be elected, you guys already have the numbers and IDs and everything),
Before you begin to talk to the SPIA staff, please check your grammar. Yous guys needs somes helps. Maybe the football team can help. This wills greatly helps when you wants to get stuffs done.
To Ubani – learn the actual SPIA issues. Go around and talk to living, breathing SPIA students. They won’t tell you that we should worry about communication with prospective students (since we don’t need any more to begin with) or that we need more of these “domestic” internships. We need more professors and more classes. An application process to get into SPIA. Hello, are you aware of real SPIA issues???
And to Connor McCarthy- How ’bout some political science love? We have to get through POLS 2000, another SPIA bottleneck.
What the hell is up with all of these candidates, anyways? Do they want to be elected or what? Aren’t some of these guys and gals already Senators? Have they done anything already?
Ha, looks like Hatin’ SGA is actually helping S.O.S. improve their platform. The law of unintended consequences.
Who says the consequences are unintended? We’re going to be stuck with these people whether we like it or not, so why not tell them how to do their job? Rather than spending my time lobbying the administration, I’ll give the new senators advice on how to do their job, which is to represent me. If they choose to ignore it (as the current SGA people have done), then we have a problem, but I cannot completely fault the new ones for being uncreative and unintelligent until I have let them know what I think they ought to do.
Since we had so much fun with our fine SPIA senators earlier, let’s see what our friends in Franklin have to offer:
Franklin College
Matthew Martin
1) Will Spence –
1) Student’s problems with JExam and the administration’s steps to address them
2) Take unanswered student concerns to the administrators to JExam to find out if it is feasible for anything to be done about these problems
3) Fix these problems if feasible.
-OK! He’s a single issue candidate. But hey, at least his platform sounds “feasible.”
2) Nisha Gupta –
1) work on creating more open forums to connect students and Franklin Deans
-Oh sure, like students show up to SGA forums in the first place. This sounds like such a pressing issue I think I’ll have to go tell my professor about it. Oh wait, that professor’s a grad student…
2) Create a better relationship between SGA and the various multicultural
organizations by appointing more liaisons
-Yay! More appointed positions for our friends to fill. Let’s make the multicultural organizations feel extra special while ignoring all the other organizations that might make use of SGA’s help. Actually, considering how much help SGA is, maybe it’s better for these other organizations that SGA doesn’t care about them.
3) Selena Robinson –
1) Advising /Develop a two pronged cohesive information guide for those who are pre-med, pre-law, pre-dent, and etc.
Too many people are pre-med and have no idea what that entails, as well as what top colleges expect of those who are pre-med, pre-law, etc.
- Not a bad idea. But will anything come of this? Will there be actual interaction between students and advisors or will it simply be one more thing students are handed to lose during orientation?
2) Work with Nisha on extending diversity initiatives
- Such a pressing need! We have academic problems out the frame but SGA is going to spend its time on diversity.
4) Abby Oakley –
1) Break down communication barriers between Franklin administration and students (i.e. make smaller)
-“Make smaller”? Is that Borat-speak?
2) Be vigilant and VISIBLE
- CONSTANT VIGILANCE. What an intelligent and proactive platform we have here! I expect nothing less from a good ol’ Golden girl.
5) Sara Andrzejewski
1) Implement a Medical Amnesty Policy
As the current Alcohol Policy stands, any attempt to seek medical attention on behalf of a fellow student or yourself will result in University Judicial sanctions. I will continue to work hard to demonstrate the need for this type of policy and collaborate with the administration to create a policy that will promote a culture of safety rather than one of fear.
- Good! FINALLY an intelligent platform.
2) Found a Woman’s Crisis Center
I will follow through with this year’s Freshman Board group project to create a satellite office of the Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia on UGA’s campus. This propsed women’s center will be a 24 hour office where students who have been raped or sexually assaulted can come to receive not only medical attention but also a place where they can feel comfortable and safe
- SGA following through on something? Incredible. I do think however that Sara has earned my vote; she displays not only grammatical competence but an emphasis on viable and important ideas. Good for her.
6) Maranie Brown
1) I would like to improve upon the way the Premedical Studies Program is set up. Pre-Med students typically meet with Dr. R. Alan Langford during or after their second semester sophomore year. Perhaps pre-med students should begin to meet earlier to make sure that they are taking the appropriate classes towards their majors and to avoid having to compete with the upperclassmen for necessary assistance. Also this would help students to prepare for the right classes to avoid having to stay at UGA for a fifth year, instead of going to medical school. I would be extremely disappointed if I were taking classes that were unnecessary towards my major and then be told in my junior year that those classes were not needed.
- Hmm ok. Sounds fine.
2) I would suggest that more dorms be created to house freshman. Instances are occurring where three to four freshmen have had to share one room. Overcrowding is definitely a problem within the dorms, especially the high-rises. Rooms that are not initially assigned to be dorm rooms are being turned into them to accommodate the increasing number of students needing housing. Also, I do not necessarily agree with the freshman dorms being on the outskirts of campus. Even though the dorms are somewhat in the heart of campus (i.e. close to the SLC, Tate, and Sanford) they really do not provide first year students with the safest living circumstances. Especially since there is no gate keeping outsiders out, the outskirts of campus is not the best place to house first-year students.
- The poor freshmen, they might be exposed to crime because they live near the projects! Pray tell, where else will we put them? The intramural fields? The administrative building? The 7th floor of the library? First part sounds fine though- there’s definitely a housing crunch.
7) Morgan-Taylor Copper
Campus wide –
Encourage a beautification of campus environment
-We don’t spend enough money already on that?
Recycling bins next to ever R&B receptacle
-Every receptacle? (Is that what it’s called?) Not a bad idea, but there are a lot of receptacles. Why not just more recycling bins in general?
Recycling bins in the SLC, Tate Plaza, outside all the dorms
-There we go.
Improve wireless connectivity in the Freshman dorms and on South Campus
-Good idea, but why not on North Campus too? It seems silly to walk into the middle of a greenspace to get wireless service.
Franklin College
Work with Academic Affairs to improve academic advising process in
Franklin College
Those with high GPAs should be allowed to register earlier
Increase Academic Rigor
I am aware of Early Registration benefits of the Blue Card/Honors receive
- Scattered thoughts, but you’re on the right track.
Small Projects
Ben, if you don’t mind, the SLC reading room chairs
- Ben Sermons minding something? That would… never mind.
Hand sanitizer in large buildings/highly populated areas
- Umm…ok. Harmless.
Toilet seat covers in dorms
-The Matt Suber issue! If the Vice President can’t solve this issue, how can anyone else?
1) Promote a new grade appeal process, whereby students can appeal a test grade not only on grounds of personal bias on their professor’s part, but also be able to appeal on grounds of academic fairness of a grade. Currently, professors are given complete autonomy over their grading on concerns of academic fairness
-Not a bad idea at all.
2) Develop a student led program within SGA, sole purpose to recruit better professors to UGA’s campus. If professors see that the students actually want them to be faculty, then they would be more likely to come and be a part of UGA. This idea would also be favorable to UGA’s administration because it would help increase UGA’s academic rigor and national rankings
- Good idea, except let’s forget about involving SGA in it and just have top students from all parts of campus. Other than that, this a superb platform.
So, based on what I’ve seen here, I’ll be voting for the final four. They’re at least saying the right things, though whether or not they’ll act on them remains to be seen (but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt). As far as the others go…bleh.
If any candidates have questions about my critiques, please feel free to respond here.
First of all, to Brittany, if you have a problem with Kelli Simms’ goals, then you should have run. In fact, after the election, there will still be two open seats for the COE as not enough people declared candidacy to fill all five seats. If you know all the REAL issues, become a Senator and do soemthing about them.
Secondly, there seems to be an expectation for this document to be perfect. It is an outline, a rough draft. It was not meant to be seen by any of us. Most rough drafts or brain storms are not perfect.
Finally, if you have a problem, quit complaining. There are certainly enough complainers in the world. Do something. Andrew, speaks of more positions to be filled. They are open to anyone, so fill them yourself and quit complaining.
Furthermore, whoever sent this document is a yellow-bellied slimeball. If you disagree, then disagree; but don’t sabotage other people’s plans.
Wes, I love your logic. “If you have a problem, quit complaining.” Really, that should be the SGA motto instead of “Accountability, Credibility, and Communication.” Thanks for showing us your true feelings. Anyways, Wes, why don’t you use your name on the post so we all know to vote for you?
PS- This isn’t sabotaging anyones plans, this is showing the UGA students what their elected (and future elected) representatives really think. A lot of these people are currently Senators, and instead of working for these improvements now, they are saying that they will do them next year. HA!
Wes, since when does knowing the REAL issues have anything to do with being elected Senator? Oh, and maybe not enough people declared candidacy because the whole election process was moved up a few months, and SGA made it harder for people to get run for Senate.
I actually was a senator for the college of ed, before i was actually IN my major, and let me tell you that people that arent IN their major at the college of ed. know nothing about the issues there (because you only have to take 4 classes over the course of two years as a pre-rec for ed majors), I know I really didnt (although i did help fix some advising issues). I would not be in SGA again because it is a waste of time – yes lets spend 20 minutes of senate placing a dash between the words “vice” and “president” and lets require so much random shit for people to go to (meetings, tailgates, meet-and-greets with deans and state senators) that you have no time to actually DO your job as a senator. I have a student leadership role on campus now where I interact with freshman and make more of a difference than SGA ever will (if it continues to go how it goes).
I appreciate your criticisms of our personal platforms and goals; hopefully we can all take something from them. If you have any further suggestions, I am more than willing to use them–these were just the most commonly suggested thoughts by the SPIA students, professors, and administrators with whom I have spoken. Thanks!
Also, I apologize for not mentioning Political Science in my personal platform. By no means am I giving PoliSci majors a cold shoulder; the International Affairs example I gave was freshest on my mind, as I had to deal with it in registering for the Spring semester. Likewise, I apologize for poor grammar and spelling as many errors could be found in my goals.
Appreciate your taking my comment out of context. The textual equivalent of a soundbyte. I am not running and do not plan on running for senate. I hold no position. I simply go to committees and try to do what I can. Now, as a freshman, I don’t know what the process use to be for becoming a senate candidate, but what I do know is that the current process does not seem too unreasonable. Sign a couple of papers and get 100 signatures. Big Deal! This is an attempt to sabotage this party’s efforts. It is a blatant attempt, otherwise there would be a name attatched to it. If you do not participate in the process, you have no right to rail against the process. If you have an issue, speak it at a senate meeting or in committees. If your efforts are unjustly dismissed, rail away. What I see, however, is people who have petty beefs and are finding petty ways of getting at people they don’t like.
Brittany, congratulations. If you feel like you can make a bigger or better difference in another capacity, then great. But don’t belittle other people’s efforts because it wasn’t the situation you wanted or that you thought was most effective.
Over the past two weeks the SGA has been debating and amending a new constitution. Twice, amendments have been introduced that expanded the senate and allowed for more participation by other people. The first amendment doubled the number of representatives. It was introduced late(after 3.5 hours of debate @ 10:30pm) and required a lot of concentration to think through the implications and consequences. The reaction, however, was classic. Senators all up in arms about the perceived threat to their power. God forbid their vote isn’t as valuable. The second amendment was a well thought out amendment by Senator Justin Shepherd. This amendment systematically expanded the senate while containing the adverse effects. The Senate still was up in arms. The ever thoughtful Senator Hill even went as far to insult the intelligence of all first and second yer students by saying we lacked a “mental capacity.” Perhaps maturity would serve the purpose of his statement, but that is not what was said. In fact, maturity was suggested and he rejected it in favor of a lack of mental capacity. As a freshman, Senator Hill, I think I have the mental capacity. If you want to compare scores from tests or simply engage in a good debate, I will meet you anyday, anywhere and we will see who lacks the “mental capacity.” The senate has revealed themselves in the past two weeks as a group of selfish, power-hungry wretches. What is there to loose by expanding representation. I spoke at both debates in favor of expanded representation, unfortunately soemtimes the voice of one person does not hold much wait in the face of a group of power hungry senators.
“If your efforts are unjustly dismissed…”
That’s exactly what happened.
“…rail away.”
So that’s what we’re doing.
I’m rather alarmed at “Why the Fear?”’s comment above. Considering a good number of senators running with SOS are in the Golden Ticket regime, I’d be interested in seeing what their reactions were so we can have a prognosis on the future of any real SGA reform (an oxymoron if there ever was one.)
The vast majority of what I read on this site is nothing but a bunch of sissies whining. “Why the fear?” guy – that’s awesome that you went to Senate and spoke about your feelings, but if you are that passionate about this stuff (and if no one seems to agree with your views) then why don’t you run for office? That goes for half the people that post on here. Last time I checked, just because people don’t agree with you doesn’t make them “selfish, power-hungry wretches”. That sounds like such a little kid crying out for attention because he didn’t get his way. You indeed have proven that “mental capacity” and “maturity” are two different things. My guess is that it all comes down to this: It’s really easy to moan and complain from the comfort of your computer, but actually running for office or taking a real stand on something actually requires a little bit of work. Dear me…I said it…you’d have to actually do some WORK. But let’s be honest, it’s so much easier just to critisize. Now based on my experience, I agree that SOME of the Senators in SGA are in it for the power. I think that most of them though really do work their tails off to try and make UGA a better place to go to school. Many SGA people are some of the most selfless people I know. I can’t imagine how much could get accomplished if this site were a forum for suggestions and intelligent discourse rather than a hate site. If you want SGA to change the way they do something, maybe try treating them like fellow students instead of spitting in their eyes.
I absolutely agree with you Tom. There are some Senators and people in the Exectutive Board who are truly interested in helping the school and helping the students. I have seen them, I have worked with them. But obviously the majority of the senate is interested in making sure their power is not diminished in anyway. The reason I don’t run for anything is because I can’t. I am in AFROTC which has class every Tuesday 330 to 530. It is the same period every year. Unfortunately, that interfers with early senate. In my priorities, AFROTC takes a higher seat to SGA. I would love to run for Senate. Unfortunately, I can’t. So I do my best to effect the organization in committees.
Tom,
I thought we all could have gotten past the second grade playground bully talk: “nothing but a bunch of sissies whining.” Come on, are you a football coach or something?
You do forget, though, that several of us (myself and at least two other commentors here) ran for office.
Let’s get this straight (you have it backwards) – MOST of the SGA senators are in this for power, and SEVERAL of them work their tails off.
And last time I checked, this site is “taking a real stand” on the lack of ethics, communication, credibility, and accountability within SGA (wow, its funny that is also the SGA motto).
To the creator: I agree that “sissies” was not a great word choice. Two wrongs don’t make a right. To your other comment, I’m not sure I understand how “Hatin’ SGA” is taking a stand at all – besides “hating the SGA”…I guess.
To “why the fear?”: AFROTC is a very legitimate excuse and should most definately take priority over running for office. I would also say that the fact that you even come to Senate or serve on committees gives you a ton more credibility than most on this site. While I disagree with some of your comments, I very much respect the fact that you actually care enough to get involved.
All I am asking for is for people to consider using this site to make some positive change instead of just tearing people down all the time. Great minds discuss ideas – average minds discuss events – feeble minds discuss people. Does everyone realize that any student at UGA can serve on an SGA committee? Any student can write legislation too. From what I hear, it took the Constitutional Reform Committee a year to draft the new Constitution. If people REALLY cared then why did they not get involved in it earlier than now?
Its funny you say something about the Constitutional Reform Committee, of which I was a member.
As for taking Hatin’ SGA taking a stand, here are some examples:
-In this post we put up campaign platforms, informing the student body of how shoddy their representatives are and allowing for student feedback.
-Here is a fellow student’s views on the Golden Ticket party platform and how they have not achieved their goals.
-Here we informed the students about a wasteful SGA event that still has not been planned sufficiently.
-Here we pointed to SGA’s budget.
-In this thread we informed students about SGA elections and how to sign-up to run.
-Here we informed students about the Student Senate meeting that was shoddily planned and canceled.
-Here we got input on what students don’t like about SGA.
-Here we informed students oh the shitty website they paid $1,000 for.
-Here we discussed the site being shutdown because of SGA and their not wanting to be criticized.
-Here we outed SGA President Jamie Peper for throwing a party where alcohol was served to minors and announcing it to SGA members.
So basically to sum it up: you informed the student body of how much you hate SGA. Bravo.
No seriously, I understand your point. I respectfully disagree with you though that what you mentioned is in fact taking a stand. I do wonder nontheless: If you were in fact a member of the Constitutional Reform Committee (which is frankly very cool that you took that initiative) then why were you not at Senate either of the two nights that the Constitution was presented? As someone who worked on it first-hand, your input could have been really valuable.
To Why the fear, don’t let early Senate stop you from running for office. It was something new that was tried this year and won’t necessarily exist in the future, especially if the new Senators can’t meet then. The Senators decide how things are run, and it doesn’t have to be run the way it was in the past, as long as it falls within the bounds of the Constitution.
And to Tom, do you really think the editor of the website would be welcome at Senate?
Uhh, does anyone know who is running for the Grady spot in the SOS Party? I’d like to know who wants to represent my school.
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[...] There are even some future Senators adding in their comments, as are several international dictators. [...]
[...] The SOS Party website, which we previously wrote about, is getting ready to kick off the SGA election campaign. The web designer, Allison Weiss, posted a warning about the content of the domain: Until January 16, 2007 at 10 pm this website is the sole property of… Allison Amling Weiss. Until that date, anything you see on this page is in no way affiliated with the UGA SGA. [...]
[...] Allison Weiss, one of the musicians performing at the “Rock the Vote”, works for the SOS Party. She is their webmaster. Nothing like a little free exposure, and maybe some album sales, for working for the SGA insiders. [...]
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