At the midpoint of their terms, Student Government Association’s president and vice president weigh in on promises made during their campaign and look toward the second semester.
As a candidate for president, Sarah Cooper, marketing junior, said in an interview with The Maroon in the March 27 issue that, “keeping students expenses in check” due to rising costs in tuition, textbook and campus housing would be addressed if she were elected.
Yet, after the SGA election, Cooper said she discovered that Loyola has the lowest tuition compared to schools with similar enrollment.
“After seeing how we are compared to other universities, we should be thankful that our administration is trying to keep tuition as low as possible,” Cooper said.
Due to student fees, Cooper allocated more money to student organizations and the Richard Frank Grant, which received double the amount this semester.
“When there is money in the budget, why not fund it? It gives more students opportunities,” Cooper said.
Another one of Cooper’s goals was to improve campus safety.
This month, Cooper set up a committee that will meet with Loyola and Tulane’s security to discuss what can be done to improve safety on both campuses. She will suggest crosswalks, speed limit signs on Freret Street and if necessary, speeding cameras to ensure student safety.
Since beginning her presidency, Cooper has also helped revive the Inter-Collegiate Consortium to introduce Loyola’s student leaders with student leaders from other universities in the New Orleans area. So far, Tulane University is the only other one involved, but she plans to engage student leaders from Xavier, Dillard and the University of New Orleans.
Cooper also told The Maroon she would be more transparent if elected president.
David Zoller, SGA senate president of the College of Social Sciences and political science senior, said, “It’s a great improvement since last year and they’re really working on making SGA more visible to get students involved in campus, and the pep rally is a great example of that.”
Cooper said she believes she is doing well so far as SGA president.
“Based on what people have been saying, (and) based on what I said that I wanted to do, I think I’m doing a pretty good job,” said Cooper.
Maria Rossi, English junior, voices a similar reflection to her term so far as SGA vice president.
As a candidate for vice president, Rossi reported to The Maroon her goal to boost student government representation.
“I think I’ve done a good job, representation has really improved,” said Rossi.
After a few resignations and appointing replacements, Rossi said, “I feel that we’re now settled and almost have a full Senate, so we can get more things done.”
While Rossi’s “Know Your SGA Board” initiative, which would have contained photos of senators and their planned initiatives for the semester, did not stand, Rossi plans to create a weekly newsletter instead that will feature Senator initiatives, executive staff information and upcoming events.
“The board did not happen because the board would be placed in a low traffic area and it would be a waste of time,” she said.
During her campaign, Rossi promised to “be as open as possible to all student concerns, comments, questions and suggestions.”
For November’s town hall meeting, Rossi created a Facebook page so students who were not able to attend could post questions.
Although Rossi planned to post minutes from senate meetings on the SGA web site, she has not been able to do so due to problems with the Web site.
Despite all of the changes in SGA, some pages on the Web site have not been updated since September. To resolve this, she said they may find someone to develop an external Web site.
Also, as part of the open-door policy, Rossi said she always writes down what people say and sends the information to the proper channels.
“I am open to see how people think I can improve,” Rossi said.
Charmaine Jackson can be reached at [email protected]
