In light of Student Government’s election announcement today, the opinion staff put together a list of initiatives the winning party could accomplish and should consider moving forward. Some are more realistic than others.
Jose Bastidas
SG has a lot of power, they just have to remember that. They gave us the Night Bus D, and they supply us with free Scantrons and Blue Books when we desperately need them, but they could take it up a notch. SG should use some of its money, or at least its voice, to advocate for the deteriorating conditions of parts of the University. The (in)famous Studio Arts Building, the bathrooms in Allen Hall and others are examples of areas that are falling apart, and no one seems to be noticing.
P.S. Where’s my ICEE machine?
SidneyRose Reynen
Some actually worthwhile initiatives would be nice. Who makes the rules for Free Speech Plaza? Sometimes I’m just trying to go stuff my face with Panda Express before my 2:30 p.m. class, but on the way there, I’m handed a pamphlet that tells me I’m a sinner and I’m going to hell. Not cool. SG should stop focusing on the imaginary picture-perfect image and start attempting to fix the allowance of scary religious people yelling at me about pornography. I’m here to go to school, not church.
Ryan McGehee
In all honesty, my view of legitimate purposes of government does not extend very far past defense, so why we have SG is beyond me. But since we do, how about they take a serious look at allowing properly licensed individuals to concealed carry on campus? Crime is a huge problem near campus, and LSUPD is not always around to save the day. Seriously, we believed a girl was almost abducted on school property this semester. Also, if they could halt their little push for a completely tobacco-free campus, that would be great.
Justin Stafford
Can we please get more outdoor electrical outlets? I’m a nature guy and I like to do my studying outside. The only outlets in the open air, that I’ve found are at Barnes and Noble. My favorite spot to work is this little pavilion by the apartments on campus, but the outlets in it do not work. Also, on my way to this location I always pass the side of Middleton Library that has some kind of sludge blasted onto the outside wall accompanied by a bloody fingerprint. Can we clean that up too?
Jana King
Campus safety, campus safety, campus safety. I’ll say it again — campus safety. Take a cue from several other Louisiana universities. The installation of emergency call boxes can cut out the chance of forgetting or dropping a cell phone during an emergency situation. Not to mention it immediately alerts the police to your location with just the push of a button. Scattering these around campus housing, the Quad or parking lots would be an excellent way to improve student safety.
P.S. I’ll second Jose’s call for an ICEE machine.
Annette Sommers
While there are some more serious initiatives SG could change, keeping it simple usually yields quicker results than pleading for a drastic change. We live in Louisiana, and it would be nice to have some outdoor water fountains during the more humid months. I’m getting tired of seeing panting students drenched in sweat while making the trek to class across campus.
Joshua Hajiakbarifini
SG should care about what students want for more than just two weeks in March for the elections. SG has the power and resources to launch a student policy forum where students can submit grievances and suggestions that SG should strive toward. Instead of running on a platform with a dozen trivial initiatives, maybe SG should get their policy from the students directly through a public forum. Tuition hikes are ridiculous, and SG should organize the students to march on the Louisiana Capitol and Governor’s Mansion to demand a freeze in tuition hikes and for Gov. Bobby Jindal to stop cutting education budgets.
Eli Haddow
I wish SG would try to increase the circulation of newspapers around campus. I’m not sure exactly how involved they are in making sure The New York Times is delivered outside of Coates Hall and the library every day, but I would like to see a greater number and variety of national papers around campus. While I laud anyone willing to pick up The Daily Reveille to get their news, this paper falls short in many areas that concern the up-and-coming citizen of the world. It’s important this student body remains informed via the best media possible so we can take part in meaningful debates before and after we head into the real world.
Megan Dunbar
Our buildings are falling apart. It’s not as bad as it could be, but making moves now to raise awareness about their potential worsening could head off larger issues in the future. Since SG’s mantra seems to be focused on raising awareness no matter the party, I’d suggest workshops for college representatives about lobbying state government. Drawing up a few basic letter forms and funneling money into letter-writing parties might be something government officials respond to as well.