I don't place this on the politics section because it is petty politics.
My college's Student Government elections are this coming week, and I'm running for Vice-President of External Affairs, the link between the students and the rest of Student Government.
I'm running with one of the three major parties. Mine's called Students for Reform, which is my organization turned to political party for the sake of getting into office and stop being hindered as we were by this current SGA.
It's interesting that the three major parties all are evened out in reasons we could win. A party called SAC (Student Action Committee) has the fraternities on its side. PIC (Progress, Improvement, Change) has a sick amount of publicity. And we, SFR, have the fact that we have already done a bunch of stuff without being in office; we did everything Student Government was hesitant to do.
Here's the myspace bulletin of our platform (written by meh!):
Campaigning has finally begun, and now it is time for UTEP to have a progressive SGA; the student government UTEP deserves. Below is our party platform, the issues we have taken and the ones we will take. Now we need the help of all of you guys to get all of UTEP to know who we are.
What Students for Reform Has Done to Date…
I. Hands of Love Can Drive (November 2007)
A. Over $200 in food and supplies were donated to the local Hands of Love organization over the Thanksgiving holiday.
II. Parking Rallies (I & II) (February 2008)
A. Two rallies were organized on the Geology Lawn to raise awareness about the parking situation at UTEP to administrators and all parties involved.
B. Approximately 2000 signatures were collected from students and faculty who opposed the present parking situation.
C. Every local news station, newspaper, and form of media was present to report on the happenings of the event.
D. A parking task force consisting of both students and parking administration was formed as a result of the rallies. To date, this force has met 3 times and immediate actions have been taken on the following:
1. Miner metro routes have been changed so as not to cause parking congestion on Sun Bowl and Schuster Exit to ensure student safety and faster traffic flow.
2. Metro will now have an evening route that transports students from the library to their vehicles at night when light is limited.
3. Option will now be added to allow students to pay parking decal with financial aid.
III. Parking Forum
A. Before the new changes occurred with the closing off of the Kern Place area, SFR held a parking forum with a staff member from the City to inform people of the changes before the issue was voted upon.
IV. Iraq Moratoriums
A. Several moratoriums have been held to honor both the Iraqi and American soldiers and civilians that have died since 9/11.
B. Black armbands with names of Iraqis and Americans and ribbons were given to students to remember the fallen. Students were traced on the sidewalk with chalk in memory of those who have died. Others took vows of silence in honor of those who can no longer speak.
V. Zapatista Movement
A. Cecilia Santiago Vera was brought in to speak on the injustices being done to women in Mexico and to ask for help on behalf of the Zapatista movement that’s gaining momentum.
VI. Lomas Del Poleo
A. With hundreds of homes of people in Lomas Del Poleo being unjustly thrown down by the Zaragosa brothers, we asked them to come present what was happening over there to bring awareness.
B. Three of our own members went down there to Lomas del Poleo to see first hand what was going on and to attend the Segundo Foro in hopes of getting additional help from the U.S. for these people.
VII. Mark Rudd and the Weather Underground Experience Presentation
A. A film detailing the experience of the Weather Underground group who brought an end to the Vietnam War using various tactics.
B. Mark Rudd, a member of Weather Underground, gave a presentation and answered questions about his experiences and perspectives.
VIII. Fight Against Asarco
A. The December 5th Event
1. Various speakers, including city representatives Beto O’Rourke and Susie Byrd, and ex-employees Danny Arellano and Charlie Rodriguez were brought out to raise the awareness of the dangers of Asarco reopening.
2. Several bands, belly dancers, and art exhibits were brought out to commemorate the event. Three Asarco piñatas were broken and annihilated.
3. Over 300 letters to Governor Perry protesting the opening were signed in addition to the thousands signed in weeks prior.
B. TCEQ Hearing Kickoff
An event with dancers and bands was held to recruit students to go to Austin with us free of charge for the final TCEQ hearing.
43 students were signed up to attend.
C. Final TCEQ Hearing
1. Over 100 El Pasoans and several hundred ACORN members from Dallas and Houston joined us in protesting the opening of Asarco while we stood around the building protesting and attending the final hearing
2. Asarco unfortunately was granted a 5-year conditional permit to begin operations.
Upcoming Students for Reform Projects…
1- Students for Re-ForUm Event Kickoff- April 14, 2008. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Union Breezeway
2- Students for Re-ForUm Forum- April 15, 2008. 3 p.m.-5 p.m. Blumberg Auditorium 1st Floor Library.
3- Tribute to Tibet: Let Us Not Look Away Film Festival. April 21-24, 2008. 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Union Cinema.
4- International Festival. April 25, 2008. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Union Breezeway.
5- Informational City Meeting on Asarco. May 29, 2008. 6:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m. Location Tentative.
If Elected, These Are Our Plans for the Future…
1- Increasing the value of degree by increasing student involvement on campus and becoming nationally renowned through program and student involvement at UTEP and national conventions. Columbia and Berkeley became famous because of their students. We can do so too.
2- Biweekly meetings to be held in addition to regular student government meetings. All students and faculty would be invited to attend these meetings to be held in an auditorium to voice ideas, concerns, and questions. Not only will they be public, but accessible.
3- Promotion of community service projects and the mergence of various student organizations on campus for shared goals.
4- Tuition prices cannot be lowered, but we will increase our efforts in working with Senator Shapleigh to bring a significant number of well paying on-campus jobs to allow students to have flexible work schedules and enough money to pay the increase in tuition.
5- Equipment Fees. Conducting an investigation into the destination of lab fees and other miscellaneous fees. Demanding that budget records be made public. If we cannot reduce the money we pay for our education, we should have the right to know where our money goes.
6- Graduating students in 4-5 years by promoting class availability and decreasing classroom overcrowding. Class availability has hit a big portion of students, and some of them are so affected by it that hey have to wait a whole semester to graduate just because they couldn’t enter one class they need.
7- Getting a Greek Life Coordinator. A lot of universities have a department that specifically deals with coordinating Greek Life activities. UTEP doesn’t. Sororities and fraternities deserve more support from administration and the student government so that they are given credit for their community service activities instead of being thought of as elitist and exclusive organizations that simply perpetuate themselves.
8- Coordinating student final or graduate projects with plans that will benefit UTEP. We want to try to get professors to encourage students to work on final projects that involve the improvement of UTEP. As example, business majors could group together and try to create an alternative budget administration could use and present that as their final project. Even if this hypothetical budget alternative isn’t followed, it would still be considered and would allow students to become a big part of UTEP’s management.
9- Conducting year round clothing and food drives rather than the sporadic event by one lonely club.
10- Informing students of SGA and Administrative happenings. The executive branch would have an open door policy.
11- Promoting recycling on campus by bringing in recycling bins. El Paso has a very decent recycling program and yet we rarely see recycling bins but in some places in campus. A lot of plastic is wasted in the food venues because everything is thrown in the same garbage bins.
12- Making all of the UTEP campus a free-speech zone rather than limiting free speech to merely Leech Grove park. Limited free speech is no free speech at all!
Now it is your turn to tell us what issues we have missed, and help us make it happen.
Now, I know you guys don't live here, and there's not much, or nothing, you can do to help me, but it's still something big that's happening to me curently and I wanted to share it with you guys.
