USG struggles for awareness

USG . . . That's the stuff they put in soup to keep it from spoiling, right?

At the Feb. 10 meeting, North Halls Senator Todd Krout spoke of the growing problem with the lack of senate staff support for methods to begin the awareness campaign.

The legislation, which proposed an information night in Findlay Commons to kick off the campaign, failed to pass the Legislation and Appropriations Review Committee. The issue was then debated on the senate floor, resulting in frustration among senate members.

- Jared Liebman (freshman-liberal arts)

A conflict between the senate staff and East Halls senators about the details of the legislation has also halted progress with the USG awareness campaign.

"We (East Halls senators) originally supported the legislation," said senator John Wood. "But once we saw the legislation we realized the outreach program could be improved."

Wood cited the timing of the program as a major factor in his opposition of the legislation.

"The senate staff suggested 7:15 p.m. on Monday as the time, but I believed that the traffic in Findlay commons would be too low," he said.

Wood said he and the other East Halls senators were willing to revise the legislation.

"We proposed the night be scheduled on a Friday or Saturday before a residence life movie, where we would be guaranteed an audience," Wood said.

The awareness initiative might be well-received by that East Halls audience; some students said they were not aware of what USG is, exactly.

"I didn't even know it existed," said Jared Liebman (freshman-liberal arts).

USG is a group elected to act as the student voice, said Josh Smith USG Senate president. USG listens to concerns of the students and acts on their behalf by representing them to the administration and to the borough, he said.

"USG attempts to improve student life sometimes with big issues and sometimes with smaller ones," Smith said.

Some East Halls residents said they thought USG meant University of South Georgia and some thought USG was "those people who do that movie stuff."

Some senators were frustrated with the lack of compromise for the awareness legislation that may answer some of the questions students have about their representative student government.

"A lot of senators just sat and listened but were not willing to work something out," Krout said.

USG Communications Director Jeff Schlanger said he thinks the awareness campaign is a good idea, but it needs to be consistent.

"I've learned that it's very complicated process to promote USG," Schlanger said. "Each year we get 9,000 to 10,000 new students a year to promote ourselves to."

Schlanger said USG has created several new outlets for promoting USG, such as an interactive World Wide Web site and a newsletter.

"We want to have proactive ways to reach students," Schlanger said. However he added there have been problems acquiring the right to post USG information on exclusive bulletin boards and dining commons table flyers.

With USG elections campaigns starting next month, USG will be more visible across campus. Many students may face making uninformed choices come election day.

"I stayed on so other students could be aware of USG," Skomorucha said. "If this continues the only way people are going hear about USG is through (election) flyers and I think that's sick."