Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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uimimmi hi mmiii na»KK-j; mi 111 iimmminni»iMi imm iii n.-rmiMiii w i wwiiii iihiimwi iyMiiiwn’T^awwff™,}'^—H Your SG Executive Staff Melissa Fletcher SG Student Government President Jotaka Eaddy BY JOTAKA EADDY SG President At the midpoint of my term in of fice, it is appropriate that I reflect a little on what has been accomplished since my term began and also how much is still needed to be done in response to student desires and needs. It’s been a busy time in Student Gov ernment, and our accomplishments would not be possible without out the help and support of those that we rep resent...the students. Many of you might wonder what exactly it is that I do as Student Gov ernment President. The most im portant aspect of my position is to serve as an official representative of the student body. I also serve as a rep resentative to the USC board of trustees. As president, I have the abil ity to create an executive cabinet to carry out projects I wish to pursue as well as projects they might choose to create themselves. As many of you might recall, as a candidate for the office of president I offered students a “Contract for Car olina.” The “Contract for Carolina” is my four-point plan to create a bet ter Carolina community. The points of the contract include extending the hours of the Shuttlecock, creating a new class called “Service 101,” cre ating a true student section at basket ball games and working to extend the academic drop date. I am proud to re port Student Government has been very successful in our efforts toward completing the “Contract for Caroli na.” With regards to safety, at the be ginning of this semester students were able to use the new evening shuttle that operates Monday through Friday from 7:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Service 101, our new class initiative which will allow students to earn class cred it while enrolled in a service learning class, is now a reality. We look for ward to seeing this class in the student course listings as early as next fall. In order to promote school spirit among Gamecock fans, Student Gov ernment has successfully launched the “Sixth Man Club” with the support of the USC Athletics Department and the Gamecock Club. This new initia tive will give all students the oppor tunity to sit in a 942-seat true student section at four basketball games SG President SEE PAGE 7 Melissa Fletcher SG Student Government Vice President Corey Ford by Corey Ford SG Vice President Serving as vice president of the stu dent body, a rewarding experience in itself, presents unique challenges to address everyday. From dealing with legislation of the student Senate to working with Cabinet projects, the po sition allows a person to make a posi tive difference in student life here at the University of South Carolina. Starting my career in Student Gov ernment in Freshman Council and al so the Senate, I successfully ran for vice president in February for a term of one year. The vice president, a part of the Executive branch, serves as the presiding officer of the Senate. To preside over the Senate, the vice president has to direct the regular ses sions in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order to insure the meeting runs in an oiganized manner. The Senate is the venue where all the legislation is de bated, amended and either approved or rejected. Legislation can consist of an amend ment to the legislative codes; a reso lution, or a public statement from the Senate; or a standard bill. While the senators within the body pass legislation during meetings of the full Senate, most of the work from the group comes from the work done in committee. The Senate consists of 8 standing committees: Athletics, Academics, Fi nance, Judiciary, Multicultural, Powers and Responsibilities, Student Services and the Rules Committee. As vice president, I strongly sup port President Eaddy’s “Contract for Carolina,” and I seek to gamer back ing for her proposals in the Senate. Pushing back the drop date, creating a Sixth Man Club, implementing Ser vice 101 and increasing safety aware ness can all improve the quality of life on campus. Also, I am currently work ing on securing more funds for the re cycling program, raising money for safety programs and researching acad emic foigiveness. Student Government needs your input to be successful. Please feel free to come by the office with ideas; we will gladly listen. I 1 Melissa Fletcher SG Student Government Treasurer Ricky Shah by Ricky Shah SG Treasurer First and foremost, I would like to thank you for your interest in Stu dent Government. We can only do so much without student input, and your interest shows us the interest is there. For those of you who are curious about what I do as the student body treasurer, I’m going to tell you a lit tle bit about what I do on a day-to day basis. While in the Student Government office, my major responsibility is to help student oiganization treasurers with the financial process. The most common question I get is, "Our budget says we have this much money, but how do I get it?" To an swer this, I show them how to fill out the appropriate transaction document, which you can get from the SG of fice, in order to receive their allocated funds. In addition, I help students in terpret their monthly management reports so they can spend their money properly. Aside from the students, it is al so my responsibility to prepare the Student Government budget and to keep track of it throughout the fis cal year. On a laiger scale, I also serve as an advisor to the student Senate Fi nance Committee. This committee meets every Wednesday to discuss budget transfer requests and any oth er business that might have arisen dur ing the previous week. Once in the fall and once in the spring, the chair of the Finance Committee and my self facilitate the Treasurer’s Work shops. These workshops usually run for about one week and are mandatory for any organization that receives mon ey through the student activity fee. The fall workshops are related to car ryover funds from the past fiscal year, and the spring workshops are designed to aid oiganizations in preparing bud gets for the upcoming fiscal year. I encourage any of you that are curious about the financial process or any other aspect of Student Govern ment to come visit us in our office in the Russell House. Freshman council not an ordinary crop of Carolina first-year students _/-I '1 by Jim MacBride AND Nithya Bala Student Government Freshman Council is the repre sentative body for the freshman class in Student Government. So far, Freshman Council has had several meetings and has gone on a retreat to get oriented as to how SG works. Freshman Council also did seri ous brainstorming for activities and • improvements for USC, focusing specifically on the freshman class. Out of this brainstorming, five commit tees formed: Orientation, Hous ing/Dining, Campus Improvement, Student Services and School Spirit. Each committee has held meetings and decided, for the time being, the projects they want to complete. Stressing participation in Garnet and Black Day and developing spe cial activities, the School Spirit Com mittee hopes to increase the level of excitement and school spirit in the freshman class and the campus at laige. From individual player fan clubs to improving First Night Carolina for freshmen, the School Spirit Com mittee sets high standards of enthusi i l asm for this year. Seeking to help new freshman in adjusting to life at USC, the Orienta tion Committee plans to aid in the re structuring of freshman orientation and create new activities for fresh man bonding. The Orientation Com mittee hopes to create class unity through activities such as a Freshman Field Day, freshman retreats and fresh man mixers. The Housing and Dining Com mittee plans to tackle projects such as improving residence hall cleanli ness, extending hours of dining facil ities and restructuring the way room mates are matched - moving away -JL ----Si from random matching to a ques tionnaire-based matching. Hoping to improve the look of campus, the Campus Improvement Committee seeks to have more flow ers planted campuswide, establish hammock sites where people can re lax and improve cigarette disposal across campus. Freshman Council will paint the Carolina Mall soon. The painting has already been approved and the Campus Improvement Com mittee is working to get that project underway. Also, look for a freshman newslet ter to be published soon and a pow der puff football event to take place in the spring. Freshman Council plans to pro mote Dance Marathon. On Nov. 16, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., representa tives will be selling donuts outside Maxcy, The Roost, Bates, The Tow ers and Patterson. Be sure to come by the Freshman Council Table on Nov. 15 for Meet Your Student Government Day. Freshman Council wants all freshmen to come by and fill out our survey so Freshman Council know in what kind of activities and issues you are inter ested. Judicial Council: USC’s student regulators Staff Reports Student Government Students on the Carolina Student Judicial Council provide an educa tional peer review process to deter mine accountability of student con duct. Three to five students on the coun cil hear and decide outcomes for stu dents alleged with violations in resi dence halls, or serve with faculty and staff members to hear and decide on cases involving university misconduct. Student members also meet week ly as an oiganization to plan philan thropic activities, campus-wide edu cational programs and socials. Membership on the Carolina Stu dent Judicial Council .is intended to represent a cross-section of students. Student members are expected to par ticipate in an extensive training and development program, comply with an ethical standards statement and be in good academic and disciplinary stand ing throughout their term of service. Students should also exemplify a com mitment to community and a willing ness to demonstrate their ideals about how students should interact and treat each other. In addition to playing a role as USC's judicial process, individual board members promote community and shared ideals in the relationships and communities in which they are in volved by serving as role models, opin ion leaders and resource people: • As role models, they maintain and model a commitment to excellence and the ideals in the Carolinian Creed. • As opinion leaders, they stimulate discussion and encourage appreciation and consideration of Creed ideals. • As resource people, they develop, use and share their skills, knowledge and awareness of services and oppor tunities to challenge and support our community's commitment to the Creed. Students on the Carolina Student Judicial Council are also instrumental in helping the Office of Student Judi cial Programs coordinate Carolinian Creed Week. Carolinian Creed Week, Oct. 9-14, features student events rang ing from national speakers to com munity service projects. The Council values standards of behavior and programming based on the Carolinian Creed because alle giance to the ideals of the Creed can prevent student misconduct. The Car olinian Creed is a complement to the university's conduct code. It has been called our “summary of values,” a “statement of purpose,” and “a state ment of standards we hope will gov ern relationships in the community.” Council members hope to show by example that, even though there are no judicial repercussions for not abiding by the Creed's ideals, adhering to its tenets can create a campus cul ture of respect and civility. Applications for membership are available in February through Student Government, the Office of Student Ju dicial Programs and University Hous ing. If you have any questions about the Carolina Student Judicial Coun cil, please contact the Office of Stu dent Judicial Programs at 777-4333.