Recently The Recorder ran an article about SGA senator Eric Bergenn, who finds it disappointing that nobody else is running for SGA president.
I’d like to say that it’s about time that nobody ran for the sham that is our student government. The SGA is a student club that has elections that determine what people got their name on as many posters as possible. The reason why nobody else ran for president is because the SGA does not represent the campus community and the students know that. SGA represents its own interests and that of the other clubs its members are involved in. Members of the SGA get paid for what they do and on top of that they all get to take expensive vacations that are labeled as “team building trips.”
I know that some clubs have their top positions paid, including The Recorder who pays its editors, but at least they are accomplishing something. All the SGA does is take our money and do whatever they want with it. Every person running for SGA president has said in the past that they want to change the campus community for the better and being a senior I have seen several presidents and not a single one has done anything to change the community at all.
I remember a few years ago when the state was increasing the tuition for school and The Recorder interviewed the three people running for president. Every one of them supported the tuition hike and one person, who happened to be the president of the college republicans, thought that they should raise tuition even more.
Eric Bergenn, you say that you will change the campus community, but why should I believe you? I do not see how you are going to be any different than every other SGA president we have had. Can I at least hope that you will not quit halfway through your term as our most recent president and vice president did?
If you want to create a better campus community how about you tell clubs that they need to do more in the campus community, like the CCSU hockey team who get $7000 dollars and ask for more money, but apparently can’t be bothered to advertise when they have games or even where they play home games.
The school administration has also shown that if you ever make a decision that they don’t like they will just overrule you and do whatever they think is best. President Miller has as much respect for you and the rest of the SGA as he does for this school, its faculty and us as students, which is absolutely none.
The SGA is out of touch, unprofessional and most of all a joke and until the SGA makes real changes then nobody is going to take you seriously. In the end though the joke is on us because you get to go on a free vacation and get paid to give money to the clubs you are in, while all we get is the bill.
Nicholas Menapace
Afroning • Apr 21, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Hey Nicholas,
I am sorry you feel that way. I remember talking to you many times over my year as SGA president last year. I remember trying to get WFCS's space for bands back, that was/is currently being used as a "political action center". We also had other conversations as well, that I am positive I kept in the back of my mind as I was trying to run SGA. And I hope the next President will do what I would of done and asked to meet with you to get your opinion on how we can better ourselves and come to an understanding.
I do just want to give past SGAs some credit though. 3 years ago we did a campus safety walk around CCSU at night to identify some safety concerns. We came up with a long list, all of which got taken care of. Total price tag on that was over $2 million. I would say increasing safety on campus was good change for the community. That was the same year we implamented the Blue Devil Social to help connect administration with students. And it seems to be growing every year. That I would say is another positive change. Starting last year SGA has gradually increased the amount of scholarships it gives out. If you talk with Coach Mac, Mike Ansera, or any one involved with Athletics, they will tell you the positive change that SGA helped to create in the school spirit at CCSU. School spirit has been something that the recorder has always said needed growth, so SGA listened and they have been trying to help in that area as much as possible. Last year we have also started hosting an on-campus leadership conference in connection with the National Center for Student Leadership. This is a free service to help CCSU students develop their leadership abilities. We also worked together with the 3 other CSU's to lobby the state in remembering the benefits of the CSU system and try not to cut our budget to much. Now I have no measure on what effect that had, but I will say it was the CCSU SGA leading that lobby, because it was an issue to our students and we wanted to make sure they were represented. This list could go on and on if given the time and space, but I just want to make you aware of some things that have occurred in the past. I also want to remind you that part of "the bill", (student activity fees), you mentioned actually goes to funding this website, the recorder, WFCS, the media board, the STudent Union Board of Governors, all of which are not under SGA's governance. And if you think being inside a conference room 12 hrs a day for 2.5 days with only a few hours to actually have a "bonding activity" is your idea of a vacation please become part of SGA and see what its all about.
And please remember sga is made up of students like you as well that have to write papers, study for exams, and also have a social life. We are not professional politicians and only a few of us are actual political science majors. We choose to do be part of SGA because we want to at least TRY and help the campus community. There are close to 10,000 undergrad students at CCSU and only 40 of us. We try our best to please the students, but when dealing with that many not everyone will be satisfied. I know you stated that we get paid, but it isn't that much in comparison to the hours we put in. I gave up working a $14/hr job to be SGA president with a $1400/semester stipend and I was easily spending 35+ hrs a week on student related issues (SGA does actually keep track of office hours). If you do the math, I gave up a lot of money to be student government president, and actually with the interest on my student loans I probably actually LOST money to be in that position.
So i beg of you to please take back what you said about SGA being a sham. While it is not perfect, it is composed of your fellow students. Some of who really do try hard to listen and help the students. So by calling SGA a joke, you are directly disrespecting people who do care.
Thank you very much for expressing your concern and understanding our position.
Best Regards,
Andrew Froning
SGA President 2009-2010
SGA Senator At-Large / Chair of Student Life Committee 2008-2009
CCSU Class of 2010