The following are letters submitted by the candidates' for SGA elections. Elections will be held February 10th through 13th electronically, and on February 14th on paper. There will be a candidate debate held on Thursday, February 9th, at 6:00 pm in the Lower Wedge.
This is one of the main areas I will address. Each senator is technically responsible for 100 students. If every on-campus senator was given a residence hall floor and each off-campus senator was given a couple of organizations to be responsible to, this would ensure that almost every individual is represented. I have to be honest to tell you that this is not my own idea. It is an idea given to me by one of my constituents, Kevin Shea. I think this just goes to show that SGA has vast resources that have yet been untouched.
As President, I would like to see the senate work together as a team to seek out the relevant issues of the student body and conquer them. Also, as President it would be my responsibility to give a report as to the status of the student body to the Board of Trustees. I feel that in order to achieve this, there has to be constant contact between the professional, Greek, and other clubs and organizations on campus. With this contact, the picture given to the trustees can be truly representative.
I have been active on this campus since my arrival freshman year. I entered Student Government as an On-Campus Senator. In this position I served as the Class II Assistant Treasurer. My sophomore year I served as the Treasurer of SGA. This position allowed me to serve as a member of the executive board. I currently serve as an On-Campus senator. I feel that my qualifications along with my leadership abilities will serve me well if I am elected as President.
As a Senator, I have been a member of many Institute committees. As a member of the Community Council, I helped to organize Spirit day. I have been trying to see a winter carnival or spirit week brought to campus. It looks like through the hard work of SAS , Skull and other winter carnival committee members my hope will be realized. My point is this, everything that I have done on this campus has been to foster a more socially gratifying environment on campus. Student Government's purpose is not solely to act as a liaison between the student body and the administration. They are supposed to do what the name implies... govern.
The purpose of SGA I think is well defined in the mission statement. It is our responsibility to make sure that every students experience at WPI is academically and socially, the best it can be. I have a noted a lack of Spirit on this campus and it saddens me. We are an excellent academic institution with great sports teams and a student body that is small enough to be, socially, very close. Why do students complain about how bad the social life is here? Our student social fee is quite high, what are we doing with the money? Are we not funding the right programs? I don't think so... SocComm does a hell of a job with programming and pulling off great events. I don't think it has anything to do with money. I think that there is a certain element missing, and its not just a campus center.
These questions are questions that SGA needs to answer. I don't think that anyone will seriously question the quality of academia here at this school, but for some reason I think someone needs to make sure we receive an excellent education. That someone is rather a something. It is the Student Government Association. I'm not just a senator or a chemistry MASH leader. I'm someone who wants an opportunity. I want an opportunity to lead SGA in a purposeful direction that will directly benefit the student body.
I thank you for your time, and hope you will consider me when voting.
Respectfully,
Ryan P. Daly,Senator
There are several things that I would like to accomplish during my term as Vice-President. First, I would like to see more communication between the SGA and the GSO(Grad. Student Organization). It is one of the official duties, however I think that it is one that has been neglected in the past. Having a better relationship between SGA and GSO can prove to be very beneficial. The two groups could then work together on the important issues that face both student bodies. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I would like to see more organization between SGA and the representatives that SGA places on the various Institute Committees. These committees, such as the Committee on Student Advising and the Committee on Academic Operations, make decision that affect every student at WPI. I feel that it is very important that these committees reps. let SGA know what is going on within those committees so that the Senate can then let it's constituents know. With this the student body can be better represented within the Institute Committees and the SGA.
So there you have it, my qualifications and goals!! With all that said-----VOTE RACHEL B. FOR V-P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My name is Kirsty E. Reidy and I am a Junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering with Aerospace Interest. I was a senator in the Student Government Association from B term of my Sophomore year until A term of this year. During this time I served as Class IV and Class III Assistant Treasurer. I have kept up with what SGA has been doing over the past two terms and have observed many problems. I would like to make a change in the office of Vice President and SGA in general.
First of all, the SGA Mission Statement maintains that SGA "...exists as the voice of the entire student body..." Hmm...let's see...has a senator asked YOU what YOUR thoughts were on any of the recent issues? Doubt it. That's a major problem with SGA right now; the student body does not know what SGA does, why they do it, or even WHERE! The senators do not speak with YOU, the college students, the ones who matter.
There needs to be a way for senators to speak to the constituency (that's YOU). According to the constitution, there is one senator for every 100 undergraduate students. If senators would go out and speak with 100 students, perhaps SGA meetings would be better attended. People would WANT to attend because they were AWARE of the issues. As Vice President, I would aspire to set up a way for senators to communicate with YOU.
A few proposals regarding this problem have been circulating through SGA for a while. One, which I believe deserves serious attention, is to assign each senator 100 mailboxes. Each senator would then be responsible for letting these 100 students know what is going on in SGA, what the issues are, and then taking feedback from them. This is beneficial in that students would become more aware of the issues at hand and be more inclined to voice their opinions. Other proposals are lacking in that they do not consider off-campus students. These I am against.
Another major issue that needs to be examined is why SGA meetings are poorly attended by the undergraduates. I think part of the reason for this is that they tend to be long, drawn out, and frankly, boring. Senators end up sitting around quibbling over the wording of this motion, or the meaning of that one. Senators themselves need to be better prepared for meetings. Each senator has two office hours per week. This means that for two hours during the week a senator will sit in the office and chat with whoever is there, do homework, etc. They do not prepare themselves for upcoming meetings. They do not try to find out if any of YOU coming into the office have any issues that YOU think should be addressed. These mannerisms must be instilled into senators during their orientation, which is part of the Vice President's job. I would like to revamp senator orientation, making senators more aware of their job, to help YOU.
I have had much experience with goal setting such as this. When I took over as President of the Society of Women Engineers during C term of my Sophomore year I made many resolutions, including giving SWE more recognition on campus, getting members more involved, and increasing membership. These goals were achieved. I feel I am qualified for the office of Vice President because I am very dedicated to a project once it has begun and have the necessary leadership experience. Now, as I am seeking the office of Vice President of Student Government, I pledge to you my best. Thank you.
Submitted Respectfully,
Fiona G. Abrams
Allow me now to take a moment and reintroduce myself. My name is Gregory R. Snow and I come to WPI from Smithfield, Rhode Island. Over the past year it has been a privilege to serve as a Senator and Chairman of the Committee on Policies and Procedures. This experience has allowed me to familiarize myself with the governing process at WPI, by introducing several pieces of legislation which continue to improve the accessibility of SGA to the WPI community.
Over my term in office, I have seen many areas where much improvement is needed in the way SGA functions. One area which has led me to run for the office of Treasurer is fiscal policy. The budgeting of clubs and organizations on campus is one of the most important functions SGA serves, and I believe there may be room for improvement. In the age of technology at a technological university, it surprises me that budgets are not submitted electronically. If elected I will form a task force to consider this particular question. I believe the SGA must also work with the administration to insure that current funding levels remain and are not subject to budget cuts.
Overall, I will remain committed to my original goal, to assure the accessibility of the Student Government Association to its membership, the WPI student body. I look forward to continuing to work with you and for you in the future. Thank you for your support.
Respectfully submitted,
Gregory R. Snow
Sincerely,
Jason Mickey
Jeremy P.Olszewski
Class of 1997