We, the Students’ Association President and Vice President, would like to thank the Campus Times for holding us accountable for the goals we listed in our platform last spring. We agree that we must fulfill our campaign promises. For this reason, we frequently re-examine our platform line by line. This week, we returned to our platform (http://alvinandjanna.blogspot.com) with the negative opinions of the Campus Times in mind. We did what we do every time we perform this audit: we reviewed each pillar of our platform – Advocacy, Communication and Expansion – and assessed our progress.
It is apparent from just a glance at our platform that we are realizing our goals. We’ve connected, for the first time in recent history, with the Eastman School of Music student government and created a taskforce to cultivate the link between the River Campus and the city of Rochester. We’ve hosted Town Hall Meetings on strategic planning, dining and the new mascot. We helped establish the Weekly Buzz. We pushed with Dining Services to re-expand their dining program and are happy to announce that the Pit will be open at 8:30 a.m. next week for breakfast. We’ve amassed half the funds necessary for a sustainable newspaper program and pushed the administration to make environmental sustainability a priority. So, if you want to see what we’re up to, just look at our platform. In addition to these goals, we also hosted Walk for Light to address campus security and supported ‘Be the Change Day.’ We contributed to the expansion of City Cycles. We’re working to improve campus facilities. And, as always, more projects are in the works.
Regardless, we are grateful to the Campus Times for pointing out our need to better communicate with the student body; Town Hall Meetings, mass e-mails, our Web site (http://sa.rochester.edu), a subcommittee focusing on student grievances, open Senate meetings (Mondays at 9 p.m. in the Gowen Room) and discussions with student group leaders are clearly insufficient. Indeed, we are always brainstorming new ways of getting the word out to students, perhaps through games of telephone, personal text messages or carrier pigeons. Let us know if you have any ideas. Our doors are always open (Wilson Commons 101F and 101G), as are our inboxes (sapres@mail.rochester.edu).
On a more serious note, we truly appreciate the Campus Times holding student government accountable. In the future, we will work to communicate more effectively to prevent further miscommunication about our progress. Please know that the Student Government is here to listen and advocate on your behalf.
-Alvin LomibaoStudents’ Association President
-Janna GewirtzStudents’ Association Vice President
