Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Monday, March 31st at 9:00am through Tuesday, April 1st at 5:00pm Run-offs to be held April 3rd-4th if necessary **To vote, access vip.sc.edu, click on the "PersonaT' tab and go to Student Body Elections.** View the candidates and their platforms at: www.sg.sc.edu/candidateview.htm prior to voting . - ■ . • v Election Results will be announced on the 3rd floor lobby of the Russell House on April 1st and 4th at 7:00pm. SENATE NEWS: Legislation update from March 5th, 2003: • Sen. McLaulin brought forth SBL(03)050 and it passed. • Sen. Shipman brougth forth SBL(03)051, a parking bill. Senators Edwards and Scott both amended the bill. Committee Reports Academics- no report Athletics- no report Finance- no report Judiciary- no report Minority Affairs- no report Powers & Responsibilities- Prizes were given for attendance. Rules- no report Student Services- no report Executive Report President Patel spoke about the Constitution. He explained that he signed it even though he disagreed with parts of it The treasurer also spoke concerning SBL(03)050, the finance bill, which officially allocates money to the appropriate organizations. The Vice President explained that there was not a Rules committee meeting this past week so she placed SBL(03)050 on the docket as emergency legislation. CABINET NEWS: Student Government would like to congratulate the NAACP Chapter of the University of South Carolina for their recent recognition of Best Chapter in the Southeast. Freshman Council Directors Nick Long and Kaleta Brown, would like to congratulate the Freshman Council on a successful bake sale last Thursday, and their new volunteer efforts at Waverly Children’s Home on Wednesdays and Thursdays Announcements from Katie McClendon, Director of Safety: • Wednesday, March 26th is Mind Body Spirit and Wellness Day. Clothesline T-shirt painting will be available on Greene Street. • Friday, March 28th a Critical Mass bike ride will begin at 5:30 pm on the Horseshoe. • Saturday, March 29th there will be a Dance in the womens' quad from 9:00pm 12:30pm tentatively. The event is sponsored by RHA and all proceeds benefit domestic violence prevention. • Monday, March 31st and April 1st -Clothsline Grand Display on Greene Street. Chief of Staff, Jessica Steadman, would like to remind the Student Body that time is running out to apply for a spot on the University Committees. Who doesn't want the chance to give advice on the parking problem or safety issues or have a say in which students and faculty members receive some of USC's top awards? Go now to the Student Government Office in the basement of the Russell House to pick up your application or find it at www.sg.sc.edu! Completed applications are due by 4:00 on Friday, April 4th in the SG Office. Want to find out more about what’s going on in Student Government? Please visit us at www.sg.sc.edu! Student Government exists to act as a liaison between the students and the administration of the University of South Carolina. i i Simmons CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 this would make student senators more accountable to their con stituencies because the student or ganizations would see their sena tors at every meeting and would then be able to express their con cerns to them, Simmons said. In addition, members of organiza tions would already know the per son they were electing into office, he said. With the sort of representation system Simmons proposes, “there would definitely be an increase in the amount of senators,” he said. “Basically, the increase in quali ty would be much greater than the increase in quantity.” Simmons thinks the quality of representation will increase be cause there will be a larger num ber of senators knowing exactly how the people they represent want them to vote. Other elements of Simmons’ platform include addressing park ing issues and reallocating the stu dent activity fee. As far as parking is con cerned, Simmons said he agrees with what has been done so far in the Student Senate. He said he thinks parking should be dis tributed according to class strat ification the way housing is done, with seniors getting spaces first, then juniors, then sopho mores, and, if there is any room left, freshmen. “The fact that there are upper classmen that get left out of garage spots just because they are un lucky in a lottery is pretty ridicu lous,” Simmons said. Simmons wants the student ac tivity fee surplus to go back to the students, he said. He said many organizations are under-funded and that service-oriented organi zations should receive some of the surplus. Simmons said his campaign is going well. “I’ve enjoyed it so far. I’ve en joyed getting out there and talk ing to groups,” he said. Simmons also said that by vis iting organizations, he has gotten feedback on what is working and what he needs to work on in his campaign. He said he doesn’t have any thing unusual planned for this week as elections approach. He is mostly concerned with getting to f student organizations. “Mainly I just want to hit as many student organizations as I can because that’s where all the enthusiasm at USC originates,” he said. Cl__ ~ -U ~ « difference as SG president, he said. “I feel that way because I’ve been out of Student Government for a year and I have a very defi nite idea of what needs to be changed to make it effective for the average student,” said Simmons, who served on Freshman Council during the 2001-2002 academic year. Simmons said he thinks the best way to get change in SG is to . remove some of the people that * have been part of it for a while. “With the same people, there is stagnation,” he said. “For one, I’d like to see it less like a club,” he said. “And I defi nitely don’t think it should be the primary source of anyone’s in volvement on campus.” The first thing he wants to do if he is elected president is to begin working to make SG inclusive of everyone on campus, Simmons said. “To make sure Student Government is effective, we need to start as soon as possible,” Simmons said of reforming the representation system. “After we make student government more effective, we’ll be better set up to deal with things of significance ♦ like budgets, parking — things of that nature.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com CwbtlLnw,m AN HISTORIC RESIDENCE Efficiency $505 One Bedroom $565 Two Bedroom $600 Rent includes all utilities and cable TV. All rates quoted are month to month. (Leases available, prices subject to change) Located across from the University Of South Carolina Horseshoe and the State Capital, Cornell Arms offers the premier location for downtown living. (803) 799-1442 1230 PENDLETON STREET COLUMBIA, SC 29201 Go Gamecocks! f ‘i I fSj Based on campus-wide survey daU collected from a random sample of USC students during the fall of 2001. Funded by a grant received from the U.S. Department of Education Safe & Drug-free Schools Program: The Prevention of High-risk Drinking and Violent Behavior Among College Students Project. Office of Student & Parent Programs • Russell House University Union • Departmc it of Student life • Division of .Student & Alumni Services jj