As I was walking to class one day a few weeks ago, an SGA member and another student from my noon class greeted me.

This particular SGA member said, “I don’t know about you, Ashley, but I’m usually here (on campus) for all the organizations I’m involved in more than I am for class.”

I responded, “I’m never here just for class.”

We both just laughed as we rushed to the third floor of Bibb Graves Hall for an hour-long lecture on the importance of voting.

SGA, aside from the campus newspaper, is, in my opinion, the most criticized entity on campus.

I think it is also fair to say when I served as The Flor-Ala’s SGA beat writer last year, the organizations’ members probably considered me one of their biggest critics.

As I sat in class that day listening to my professor discuss why the electorate does and does not vote, a few realizations hit me dead in the heart.

Complaints surface when SGA does not get high voter turnout in its elections. As the school year comes to an end, questions arise about what the organization accomplished. Criticisms circulate when only 10 random students out of 100 can identify the organization’s president.

What people do not discuss are the countless hours those SGA officials spend representing the 6,841 students enrolled at UNA.

SGA members spend their days planning events, writing legislation and presenting student concerns to the top campus administration.

These students serve on committees that really make a difference in the way campus operates from day to day, such as the Presidential Search Committee and a committee that is currently working to decrease the number of sexual assaults.

Because SGA members are the voice of students in these groups, it is important they know what students want and expect during their time at this university.

The organization offers students a chance to tell them on its website, www.una.edu/sga. A suggestion box is available for students to make comments about what they want SGA to do and how campus could be better for them.

In my opinion, students who do not utilize this resource have no reason to complain about what the organization is or is not doing.

SGA members want to make a difference but without students’ help, they cannot.