Printed in bold, capital letters at the bottom of a poster in the SGA office is a statement that boldly reads “THIS IS THE YEAR OF UNITY.” President Micah Card and her SGA minions have set an ambitious goal for the 2006-2007 school year, and they have broad plans to implement.
When asked exactly what the vision of this “Year of Unity” is, Card answered with the mission statement she crafted, which is printed above the authorative declaration mentioned above. “The goal is to create an exciting, fun, cooperative feeling within the association, and more importantly between us and the students.”
An infectious wave of lofty goals has swept through the Student Government Association leadership, with a pervading theme of student outreach. Secretary Osmond Param admits that this goal does sound like a clichÇ but adds that “increased communications between students, faculty, and the SGA is something that does need to be fixed.” He plans to do his part in helping the SGA in becoming more of a representative government and “more of a resource to the students.”
As the Communications Chair, he has set up a Myspace profile for the SGA and a group for students to join. He expressed that “it would be quite efficient in that people can ask us questions, submit concerns … at any time convenient for them.”
Activities Liaison Sarah Cuellar has her own unique ideas for student outreach. She plans to have a monthly activity with the campus clubs to “create cohesion between the students and clubs.”
She hasn’t limited herself to conventional thinking, however. She mentions a foam party, battle of the bands, and regularly scheduled concerts in the Campus Center. Also, a flier she has circulated around campus as a method for students to contact her lists “Bull Riding” among other interests one might have if they are interested in participating with the Student Government.
Concerts on campus aren’t as far fetched as they may seem. On Aug. 24, the SGA held an event called “Bakersfield College Rocks!” in the Campus Center. All SGA members interviewed have shown an interest in repeating this type of event.
Card has been the driving force of much of this enthusiasm, for both Cuellar and Param, as well as Vice President Rodolfo Correa and Treasurer Tamera Langdon give propers to Card and her drive to implement her goal of unity.
On her own behalf, Card has said that she hopes the movement will be mostly “grassroots,” with the students taking up with the momentum the SGA has tried to start. Another part of her grassroots effort is to be as open as possible to student concerns and ideas and “take advantage of student input as much as possible.”
One of the most immediate results of this student input has been the revamping of the ‘Gades card. This is the card that students are repeatedly asked to purchase as they register online for classes. Langdon stresses that she has been working on the problem of the “click box” that seems to be constantly resetting itself whenever one adjusts their schedule. She hopes to have it resolved to the point that when students decide not to purchase the card, they will not be forced to repeat their decision ad nauseam.
In addition, Langdon hopes the card will be more attractive to students due to the switch to new card company Student Advantage. According to the Student Advantage Website, the card offers discounts ranging from Amtrak, Barnes and Noble, Target, Champ’s Sports, and Armani Exchange, in addition to many others.
With these bold plans, will the SGA be able to, in the words of Correa, “make students more aware of their Student Government”? As always, that remains up to the students to decide.