SGA holds open house, wants to be transparent
September 1, 2011
SGA held an open house-style event Aug. 24 on the steps in front of the GUC. The purpose of the event was to make SGA’s presence known to the UNA student body. This is the second consecutive year the event has been held.
“The SGA Open House started last year as a way to get SGA in front of the students,” said SGA President Ralph Akalonu. “We are using this medium of providing refreshments and free prizes to students in order to inform them that there is an organization here at UNA that represents their interests”
“This is also designed to interact on a personal basis with the students,” he added. “This year’s open house was also the launch of SGA’s Ideas to Action campaign, which is designed to provide face-to-face interaction with students in order to inform them about what SGA is doing, as well as to receive feedback from the people we represent.”
Also in attendance at the event was a representative from USA Today. The representative works with the SGA on their readership program, which provides free copies of national newspapers to students.
“In all, we believe the open house was a huge success this year, and we hope to continue it in the future,” Akalonu said.
UNA students have a variety of opinions on the direction the SGA should take this year and what they hope for the group to accomplish.
“I think the SGA does a good job,” said UNA public relations major Josh Bogus. “I liked the fact that we were given a chance to vote on the Division I move, and although we’re still going to move to Division I, I liked that the SGA helped us have somewhat of a voice.”
At the event, students could use the time to talk to SGA officials about changes at UNA. SGA officers work directly with the UNA board of trustees and the administration on campus.
“The SGA really needs to confront the school about the new freshmen parking on Darby Drive and catching a bus,” said Bobby Coble, an exercise science major. “That should be dependent on where the student lives, because some students have to drive so far from the opposite direction and waste gas just to get back.”
