2008 Woodie Awards
After the Election: What the incoming SGA and other student leaders must focus on
Regina Pynn
Issue date: 2/9/07 Section: Opinion
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The SGA election is over. The people who will be controlling much of the student activity for the next year have been selected after a long election process. Congratulations to the winning ticket. However, the close of the online polls does not imply that anything thus far has been completed. The state of Stevens Tech as well as the election itself means the new SGA leaders and their appointed cabinet members have a large task ahead of them. I hope they, and campus as a whole, will observe this short list of observations and suggestions from a fellow student.
1) Unite the campus. Stevens is at a point where the differences between the majors are keenly felt. A collection of engineering students can hardly go a conversation without some snide remark about "Biz-Techs" (the colloquial term for students in the Business and Technology Program). The female population on campus is also fair game for degrading remarks and one-sided humor. The leaders of campus move in closed circles that often do not encompass all their fellow leaders and certainly do not include members of the Stevens community whose main concern is GPA and whose list of extracurricular activities is limited. The university would be much better served if these barriers were knocked down and they begin with our SGA showing by example that they do not tolerate distinctions based on major, sex or rank in Registered Student Organizations(RSOs).
2) Remove Apathy from the Vocabulary. Apathy is not rampant on campus, despite the propensity of some leaders to use the word. Some students simply do not feel the need to elbow their way into executive board positions and are content studying and being with their friends. Some athletes' commitments to their sport do not allow them to be extremely active in RSOs or government. There are also students who consider anyone getting eight hours of sleep a night a slacker who obviously does not have enough time commitments. You might be surprised what happens when you stop trying to guilt trip peers into being more active than they want to be. No "apathy." Just different priorities.
1) Unite the campus. Stevens is at a point where the differences between the majors are keenly felt. A collection of engineering students can hardly go a conversation without some snide remark about "Biz-Techs" (the colloquial term for students in the Business and Technology Program). The female population on campus is also fair game for degrading remarks and one-sided humor. The leaders of campus move in closed circles that often do not encompass all their fellow leaders and certainly do not include members of the Stevens community whose main concern is GPA and whose list of extracurricular activities is limited. The university would be much better served if these barriers were knocked down and they begin with our SGA showing by example that they do not tolerate distinctions based on major, sex or rank in Registered Student Organizations(RSOs).
2) Remove Apathy from the Vocabulary. Apathy is not rampant on campus, despite the propensity of some leaders to use the word. Some students simply do not feel the need to elbow their way into executive board positions and are content studying and being with their friends. Some athletes' commitments to their sport do not allow them to be extremely active in RSOs or government. There are also students who consider anyone getting eight hours of sleep a night a slacker who obviously does not have enough time commitments. You might be surprised what happens when you stop trying to guilt trip peers into being more active than they want to be. No "apathy." Just different priorities.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Rebecca Kolberg
posted 2/16/07 @ 2:06 AM EST
Regina, you make some truly excellent points in this article. I especially like the second item- "Remove apathy from the vocabulary." I think you nailed it when you said it's about "different priorities. (Continued…)
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