by Heather Gabel
ASUNM Vice President
As I sit staring at the computer, I wonder what I should tell the student body this week. Of course, I also ponder the question, "I wonder if anyone actually reads these?"
As an optimist I assume that everyone is reading these columns and becoming highly versed in the comings and goings of their student body. But being more realistic, I hope that at least a few students have been tuning in and are more aware of how their student government affects them.
With less than three months left in my term, I hope that I have accomplished what I set out to do. And that was to serve my fellow students to the best of my ability and make an impact on UNM as a whole. I pledged to move the senate forward, not a step back, and to attempt to open lines of communication between ASUNM and the everyday student on campus.
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I think that the senate and ASUNM have moved forward in this past semester and have made many great strides. For the first time in a long time there has been a united front between the executive branch and the legislative branch to work together as a team to make an impact on the campus community.
To start off the school year, the senate and the executive agencies participated in a joint retreat and began learning how to work as a cohesive unit. We had teambuilding sessions and discussed ways that each agency and members of the senate could work together to achieve a uniformed goal. We also decided that it wasn't enough to only help the students on this campus but to also help the community around us and make the students at UNM more visible in the Albuquerque area. This was accomplished through the formation of the new executive agency, Community Experience. According to the ASUNM Lawbook "the purpose of the Community Experience is to provide community service opportunities to the University of New Mexico through management of lists of community service programs and by coordinating events that provide an easy opportunity to give back to the community."
Every year in the spring, the Community Experience will sponsor the Spring Storm. The Spring Storm is a one-day community service event where UNM students, faculty, and staff spread throughout the local community and perform service projects. This spring the event is being held on Saturday, April 12, starting at 9 a.m., at University Stadium and ending around 3 p.m., with a Barbeque Bash. To participate, you can get information from the Web site at http://springstorm.unm.edu or stop by the ASUNM office in Student Services, Room 262, or Student Activities Office in Student Services, Room 280, for more information. The deadline to sign up is March 10, so don't let this opportunity pass you by.
Another way that we have attempted to outreach and build a bridge of communication between ASUNM and the student body has been through our weekly columns. For those of you avid readers I would like to say thank you! I hope your college experience has been in some way enriched through the knowledge you have gained by reading our columns. If this is your first experience with the ASUNM column, congratulations! You have become part of our goal to outreach to the UNM student body. I hope these columns have been a success and we would appreciate any feedback you could give us. If there is a topic you would like us to write about feel free to call the ASUNM office at 277-5528 or stop by and visit us.
I also hope you have had the opportunity to read my "Vice Presidential Update." I started the "Vice Presidential Update" in the middle of last semester. It is a newsletter that my office sends out every other week to all the student organizations, departments, and various other high student traffic areas on campus. It has an "upcoming dates to remember" section that will keep you up to date on ASUNM events, along with a couple articles highlighting upcoming events and important information. I hope you have had the opportunity to review the newsletter and if you are a member of an organization ask your president to pass it around your meetings, or go to the head of your department and ask if they could post it where you have access to it. It contains valuable information and I would like to know that every student has the opportunity to read it if they are interested in knowing about what is being done for you at ASUNM.
I hope at least a few of you have read through this entire column and again I would appreciate any feedback you may have on issues you would like to see addressed in our column. We would also love to see you at one of our upcoming meetings. We will be having senate committee meetings this Wednesday, Feb. 26, starting at 5:30 p.m. Call 277-5528 for locations. You may also attend our next Full Senate meeting on Wednesday, March 5, at 6 p.m., in the Kiva Lecture Hall. We hope to see you there.
