The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: Opinions

R&B Party Platform

If we were running for SGA offices, we would focus on these important issues

With SGA elections taking place this week, we at The Red & Black thought it would be a good idea to give some realistic suggestions on how we would improve the University.

• As a party, we would push for a more visible University administration. President Adams is the face of the administration, but he is not the only person making crucial decisions on this campus. We would like to make the student body more aware of the other people involved in the processes that shape and maintain this University, such as the many provosts and deans, and we would strive for those administrators to be more open with students and faculty about what goes on behind closed doors.

• On the same token, The Red & Black Party would try to create a more open channel between students and the student-athletes who represent the University. Forums and mixers with athletes and Athletic Association officials would give students and faculty the opportunity to understand and better know the faces we only see in the media and on the field of play.

• Although the University has an office devoted to violence prevention on campus, we as a party would push to get the ball rolling toward establishing a full-fledged women's center. In the University's Relationship and Sexual Violence policy, it states that the school is "dedicated to providing assistance and support to students who have experienced relationship and/or sexual violence and to making educational programs directed at prevention and awareness of relationship and sexual violence available to the campus community." A center built in conjunction with local law enforcement would increase the University's commitment to protecting its students.

• Rather than dallying around with the idea of putting stickers on all the light switches to promote energy conservation, there should be real measures to promote energy conservation. To this end, we would propose changing to energy-efficient light bulbs and seek to limit other waste on campus, such as keeping lights on all night in some buildings.

In addition, if the University is serious about recycling materials, there should be more bins available. The most urgently needed are newspaper and plastic bottle recycling bins. Both of these are difficult to find outside of the SLC and need to be more accessible.

• With the number of complaints made every year, we think the Athletic Association should make a more serious move to improve the ticketing policy for football games. Our suggestion is to coordinate student ticketing with UGA ID, so students have their IDs scanned instead of having to wait in lines. In addition, the student sections should be general admission. We treat them as such anyway, and this would facilitate the process of having electronic student tickets.

• There needs to be a clear and sure avenue for students to report sexual harassment and coercion to the administration. The keys to a good system are guaranteed privacy and accessibility. There also must be a stronger movement within the administration to ensure that claims are investigated, and actions are taken against professors who violate the policy.

- Matt Brandenburgh and Phillip Kisubika for the editorial board

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