Candidates Tout "Transparency" at Open Forum

On Thursday Feb. 25, the candidates for the Student Government Association's E-board spoke at an Open Forum in the C. Walsh Theater. In attendance was Presidential candidate Mitch Vieira, candidate for Treasurer Ed Plamowski, Vice Presidential candidates, Nick DiZoglio, Martha Alvarado and Jeff Cyr, and the Secretarial candidates Bianca Kreiling and Brad Migliacci.

Each candidate was given a short amount of time to answer a question from the moderator, Dean of Student Affairs Rich Decapua and later the audience, compromised of SGA members and other Suffolk students.

Vieira spoke first. Running unopposed, he addressed issues he wanted to resolve for his term next year. Vieira wants to reach out to students not in clubs to represent the Suffolk community as a whole, work more closely with SGA senators, and also create a Student Trustee position within the Suffolk administration. The Trustee, Vieira said, would serve as a liaison between the student body and the administration.

He plans to collaborate more with SU101 classes to bring more awareness to the class, while also pushing more school events. Vieira said that he wants SGA to be involved more with Suffolk events, and also hold more Open Forums for the student community. He hopes that the SGA will sit in lounges around campus to give students and an opportunity to speak directly with SGA members.

Also running unopposed is treasurer candidate Ed Plamowski, who mentioned that he “had big shoes to fill," a reference to Vieira’s current tenure as SGA Treasurer. He expressed his desire that every Suffolk club fully utilize their treasurer position, and would ask that all treasurers attend weekly Finance Committee meetings to familiarize themselves with the process of asking SGA for money. It's a plan that Plamwoski says will ensure more groups get the money they need from SGA.

Running for re-election for Vice-President is Nick DiZoglio, who stressed that it’s important to get more students - especially commuters - involved in campus clubs, events, and programs. DiZoglio also mentioned that SGA needs to work to help save programs on campus that are suffering due to financial struggles.

DiZoglio also plans to push involvement outside of the Suffolk campus with other university students in Boston. To DiZoglio, community outreach, though such avenues as intramural league sports, are important issues for the present, because the proposed Student Union building is something that won’t be available until the far future, he said.

Alvarado promised to bring new ideas to the table as Vice President. Calling herself a “fresh face,” she is continuing her mission to extend library hours, one that she started as a current Senator for the Class of 2013. It's an effort that requires a large push from the administration due to budget constraints, but the over-crowding and need of extended hours during exam times is “a vital resource for our education,” said Alvarado.

Also running for vice-president is Jeff Cyr, who wants to increase intramural sports, an effort that will help students who can’t make the official school teams, he said.

Cyr also hopes to have a “walk-along” program in place of the once-proposed “shuttle program,” pointing out a particular need for such a program among NESAD students. The “walk-along” program will have an officer accompany a student as an escort, to the dorms, local apartments, and possibly even North and South Station. Cyr also believes that a Student Union is necessary for our campus, in order to unite commuter students.

All vice-presidential candidates agreed that the Student Judicial Review Board needs to be revamped to increase public transparency, through such effort as an increase in e-mails about hearings, outside office hours, and also working with other clubs all year and not just during election times.

The transparency theme continued with the secretary candidates, who touted the need for the SGA to share itself with the student body at large.

Kreiling advocated increasing SGA's presence on networks like SUConnect and Facebook. Kreiling wants all SGA meeting minutes to appear online for easier accessibility, while also using these websites to communicate with Suffolk students who want their voices heard but cannot always stop in the SGA’s office hours. Kreiling wants to make the Office Hour policy apply inside and outside of the office, like in student lounges or in lobbies of academic buildings, as Vieira also alluded to.

Migliacci agreed with Kreiling’s idea of using the internet more, but as a secretary he believes that “one must go out and connect with student minds.” Migliacci wants the SGA minutes to be available not only to SGA members but to everyone to open more lines of communication. Migliacci’s goal is to have the student body know what SGA is and how to get in contact with the group.

SGA Elections begin March 8 through SUConnect.