Interviewed by Charles Desrochers, Asst. Lifestyles Editor

Andrew Froning is a junior here at CCSU. He is a currently an At-Large Senator. He is pursuing a BA in psychology with a minor in business. 

As an At-Large bid he represents both commuter and the residents on campus.

Froning believes he has so many connections throughout the student body that will allow him to represent every side.

Charles Desrochers: What do you think about the tuition increase?

Andrew Froning: This increase is actually the lowest of all the state institutions for the upcoming year. The whole world is suffering through financial dilemma where it’s going to be a time where both the university and the students will have to learn some responsibility monetarily. I feel we will make it through it and I feel like the student government will also do a great deal in helping the students cope with this. I know something I have been doing is to bring students onto campus to educate students how they can handle their financials now to be better prepared for it when they enter the real world.

Something that students don’t know is that the average age that students used to start investing is 33, right now that’s ten years away but if we start investing in small increments, that can pay off in the long run. I want to educate students a bit more and show them how they can come out of this unharmed. They may feel a little pressure in some places but if we do our job right as a university and as a student government we can help students through this without any harm done to them.  

CD: What would you want to see this tuition money go towards?

AF: A concern I’ve raised is that this previous course catalogue, there are a lot of “to be announced”. That kind of worried me because if I sign up for a class and they can’t find professors for this class what happens to me? What happens to the person next to me as well, who also signed up for that class? I want to see this increase go towards making sure we have professors to meet the needs of our students. Keep the student to faculty ratio low like it’s always been. Another thing I would like to see would be internships. Internships cost the school a bit of money so some departments might cut internships for financial reasons. I don’t want to see that happen because internships create job opportunities for students and that’s what we’re here for, to get better job opportunities. 

CD: What flaws do you see in the senate?

AF: Some people may see the senate as divided or separate but I think that is healthy for a Senate. If we all agreed with each other we would be going on a straight path to nowhere. We need people to argue. It’s not senseless arguing, it’s intelligent arguing. While people may not agree on certain things at least now it’s being discussed. So, when we come to an agreement it’s been thought over very well. I think this previous year’s Senate has actually done a lot of good things. We’ve had safety night walks; we’ve addressed several issues regarding student activity fees. I would have to say that the one thing that the senate has seemed is we are not always out there. Right now we’re kind of in a cave and kind of secluded. I want to attract more students. I want a student audience for senate, but that involves working with other organizations and making sure students are more informed to what we do.  

CD: What would you do to better the Senate?

AF: What I want to do as a Senate is to unify all these things keep them separate but have them working together. I want to see the senate working with the media board to keep the students informed of what we’re doing, not only at the CSU level but also at the state level. I want to work with the Student Union Board of Governors, to make sure this student center is fit for our students. I want to work with the IRC to work on some initiatives. Instead of having these different bodies working on different issues I want the Senate to be like, “Alright, let’s team up and tackle this together.” So really my whole thing is to unify this campus. Going along with that is something I’ve started this past semester, to bring faculty, students, and staff together. I really want to turn this university from campus to a home for people.