For the past year, I have served you, the students, as Director of Programming for ASUN (the year before I was the Flipside Travel and Recreation Chair). Under my administration, the Flipside Programming Board has begun many new initiatives that have never before been attempted on this campus. We started the Nevada Speaker Series and have brought many personalities to campus to speak to students on many challenging issues. Ralph Nader came to campus and talked to us about the importance of being politically active as young Americans and the importance of being environmentally sound. Denise Cordova came and talked about homosexuality and religion. Survivors from the Darfur Genocide came to speak about their experiences.
Flipside had an incredible Homecoming this year and has started a few new traditions. Our midnight pancake breakfast during Welcome Week had over 800 students in attendance (the most highly attended non-athletic Flipside event since Michael Moore coming to campus in 2004). This semester, I personally planned the Coffee and a Concert Series, which will bring 9 acoustic musicians or spoken word poets to the Starbucks in the Joe almost every Wednesday night this semester. We started the Howl at the Moon late-night events that have had an average of 300-400 students in attendance. There are countless other achievements that Flipside has accomplished this year under my administration and with the tireless effort of our amazing chairpersons.
ASUN is in control of big money; potentially $1.7 million next year. You are going to need someone in office who has a proven record for being responsible with money and who has a solid record of producing results. This year, Flipside was responsible for a $138,000 budget which was spent, and accounted for, with the greatest care as to not waste a single cent of students’ money. Elect me your President, and I will be a good steward of your hard-earned money.
One of the most important factors in getting goals accomplished on campus is knowing how to navigate the University system. Through my years of ASUN experience, I have developed relations and earned the respect of working with most major departments on campus from Athletics to Greek Life to University Communications (Marketing) to Dr. Glick. All of the goals I have set for this year are extremely practical and easily achieved bringing all of my relationships around campus to bear.
Ultimately, I have poured my heart and soul into serving you, the students, during my last three years on campus. I have sacrificed many things in order to make all of our college experiences better. Elect me your President and let me focus my passion and energy for our University into making your time here at the University of Nevada better. I am here to serve you, and that is exactly what I will do as your President. Thank you.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Platform
He is the current ASUN Director of Programming (also known as Flipside, the group that brings events such as the movie series, coffee and a concert, homecoming, etc.)
As he approaches his third year in the ASUN, Eli has formed a platform of issues that he sees as the most pressing topics and concerns for the upcoming year; he is also looking for your vision for a better Student Union for the University of Nevada.
Platform
I. Campus Safety
Our university has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation, but the recent wave of unusually violent crime that has hit our community has reminded us of how susceptible we are to crime. Unfortunately, our safety on campus cannot be guaranteed, but there are many initiatives that ASUN can undertake that would help make our campus a safer environment.
Problem: Our campus (particularly at night) is not as safe as it could potentially be, as shown by the recent increase in violent crime.
Solution: - Complete and fulfill the Campus Blue Light Project- Expand Campus Escort to reduce wait times
Details: For quite some time now, administrators, University Police, and ASUN officials have discussed implementing the Campus Blue Light Project. The time to see this through is now. This Project would install large pillars on campus, each with a blue light at the top (to help in quickly locating one when you need to). The pillar will have one button that contacts 911, and another that calls campus escort. So if at any time you feel threatened while you are on campus at night, you can easily find one of these Blue Lights and call for emergency assistance or for a ride out of there. The entire project (24 Blue Light installations) will cost around $223,000 ($100,000 of which has already been funded by the University). If I am elected your President, I will make a commitment from ASUN that will assist in funding this project (most likely over the course of a few years) and help in finding donors to complete the project. I strongly feel that by installing these Blue Lights that we will return to a much safer atmosphere on campus.
Another issue is the wait time for Campus Escort (particularly when it is cold outside). As more and more students are using Campus Escort, we have sometimes been forced to wait upwards of 30 minutes for a ride. By making students wait much longer for rides, we are exposing them to significantly more danger than if we were able to respond much faster. By increasing funding to Campus Escort (especially in the winter when more students use the service) we will be able to purchase more vans and hire more employees to ensure that wait times are as low as can be.
II. The College Experience
What I like to call, “The College Experience,” is the feeling of a traditional campus atmosphere among students at the University. A traditional campus atmosphere includes having many large events put on by ASUN as well as hundreds of extremely active clubs.
Problem: Apathy is very prevalent on our campus.
Solution:
-Increase funding for Flipside Programming to create a year of series-oriented programming on almost every night of the week
Give the newly created Department of Homecoming the funding and resources it needs to plan the best Homecoming the University has seen in many years
Increase funding to Clubs and Organizations to give them the opportunity to hold better events and better themselves and their members
Details: By increasing funding to Flipside Programming, we will see the fulfillment of my vision for on-campus events. By focusing on series-oriented events, we can see a semester with an event for virtually every night of the week. For instance: Monday nights would host an Independent/Foreign Movie Series, Tuesday nights would be the Nevada Speaker Series, Wednesday nights could be the Coffee and a Concert Series, and Thursday nights would remain the Thursday Night Movie Series, showing newer films. By increasing the funding for Flipside, we could easily see a year of this sort of schedule. Events like these give students a great venue to meet new people and have a good time. I would like to increase the Flipside budget to $175,000 in the coming year.
III. 24-Hour Campus
The needs of our student body have expanded and we need a campus that can meet our demands.
Problem: There is no place on campus anyone can go on a weeknight past 12am to study or socialize.
Solution:
-Work with University administration to secure a 24-Hour Student Union and/or a 24-Hour Library
Details: We have all had to pull an all-nighter to study for a test or finish a project. We have all had roommates who played their music too loud or played video games at the highest volume so we couldn’t study at home. In this case we turn to the Student Union or the library for a place to study late on a weeknight. The problem is that we are all kicked out at midnight. If the Student Union is supposed to be the “living room” of campus, why can’t we be in it past midnight? If I am elected your President, I will work with University administrators in order to get these buildings open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, so there will always be somewhere on campus where students can go to study.
Additionally, I know there are a lot of us out there who have class from 7:00-9:45pm and can’t make it to Lombardi after class (or before, as most students work during the day) because it closes at 11:00pm. I would like to work to have Lombardi expand its hours at least until 2am (ideally also 24-hours) so that we can accommodate for students who are busy during the day and forced to work out at night.
As he approaches his third year in the ASUN, Eli has formed a platform of issues that he sees as the most pressing topics and concerns for the upcoming year; he is also looking for your vision for a better Student Union for the University of Nevada.
Platform
I. Campus Safety
Our university has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation, but the recent wave of unusually violent crime that has hit our community has reminded us of how susceptible we are to crime. Unfortunately, our safety on campus cannot be guaranteed, but there are many initiatives that ASUN can undertake that would help make our campus a safer environment.
Problem: Our campus (particularly at night) is not as safe as it could potentially be, as shown by the recent increase in violent crime.
Solution: - Complete and fulfill the Campus Blue Light Project- Expand Campus Escort to reduce wait times
Details: For quite some time now, administrators, University Police, and ASUN officials have discussed implementing the Campus Blue Light Project. The time to see this through is now. This Project would install large pillars on campus, each with a blue light at the top (to help in quickly locating one when you need to). The pillar will have one button that contacts 911, and another that calls campus escort. So if at any time you feel threatened while you are on campus at night, you can easily find one of these Blue Lights and call for emergency assistance or for a ride out of there. The entire project (24 Blue Light installations) will cost around $223,000 ($100,000 of which has already been funded by the University). If I am elected your President, I will make a commitment from ASUN that will assist in funding this project (most likely over the course of a few years) and help in finding donors to complete the project. I strongly feel that by installing these Blue Lights that we will return to a much safer atmosphere on campus.
Another issue is the wait time for Campus Escort (particularly when it is cold outside). As more and more students are using Campus Escort, we have sometimes been forced to wait upwards of 30 minutes for a ride. By making students wait much longer for rides, we are exposing them to significantly more danger than if we were able to respond much faster. By increasing funding to Campus Escort (especially in the winter when more students use the service) we will be able to purchase more vans and hire more employees to ensure that wait times are as low as can be.
II. The College Experience
What I like to call, “The College Experience,” is the feeling of a traditional campus atmosphere among students at the University. A traditional campus atmosphere includes having many large events put on by ASUN as well as hundreds of extremely active clubs.
Problem: Apathy is very prevalent on our campus.
Solution:
-Increase funding for Flipside Programming to create a year of series-oriented programming on almost every night of the week
Give the newly created Department of Homecoming the funding and resources it needs to plan the best Homecoming the University has seen in many years
Increase funding to Clubs and Organizations to give them the opportunity to hold better events and better themselves and their members
Details: By increasing funding to Flipside Programming, we will see the fulfillment of my vision for on-campus events. By focusing on series-oriented events, we can see a semester with an event for virtually every night of the week. For instance: Monday nights would host an Independent/Foreign Movie Series, Tuesday nights would be the Nevada Speaker Series, Wednesday nights could be the Coffee and a Concert Series, and Thursday nights would remain the Thursday Night Movie Series, showing newer films. By increasing the funding for Flipside, we could easily see a year of this sort of schedule. Events like these give students a great venue to meet new people and have a good time. I would like to increase the Flipside budget to $175,000 in the coming year.
III. 24-Hour Campus
The needs of our student body have expanded and we need a campus that can meet our demands.
Problem: There is no place on campus anyone can go on a weeknight past 12am to study or socialize.
Solution:
-Work with University administration to secure a 24-Hour Student Union and/or a 24-Hour Library
Details: We have all had to pull an all-nighter to study for a test or finish a project. We have all had roommates who played their music too loud or played video games at the highest volume so we couldn’t study at home. In this case we turn to the Student Union or the library for a place to study late on a weeknight. The problem is that we are all kicked out at midnight. If the Student Union is supposed to be the “living room” of campus, why can’t we be in it past midnight? If I am elected your President, I will work with University administrators in order to get these buildings open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, so there will always be somewhere on campus where students can go to study.
Additionally, I know there are a lot of us out there who have class from 7:00-9:45pm and can’t make it to Lombardi after class (or before, as most students work during the day) because it closes at 11:00pm. I would like to work to have Lombardi expand its hours at least until 2am (ideally also 24-hours) so that we can accommodate for students who are busy during the day and forced to work out at night.
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