Want to be in the SGA executive branch next year?

Apply!

The 2009-2010 SGA Executive Application is up! Fill out the form (link is below) and turn it in to David Hoffman (2nd floor of the commons) by Wednesday, May 13 at 11:59pm.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email Jen Kent at jkent1@umbc.edu

THE APPLICATION:
http://sga.umbc.edu/SGA%20Executive%20Branch%20Application%202009-2010.doc

It's Time to VOTE!

The polls for this year's SGA elections are opening at 12:00 AM, and will run until 11:59 PM on Wednesday. There are a number of contested races for positions that have a lot of influence over how your student fees are spent and how policies are made at UMBC.

Information about all candidates is listed on the SGA website. Direct links to their official profiles are below.

President:

• Yasmin Karimian with running mate Jennifer Kent
  

Treasurer:

• Nikunj Divecha
• James McCauley
• Stefan Victor

Vice President for Student Organizations:

• Brian Frazee
• Paula McCusker

Finance Board:

• Emily Han
  
• Sekinah Hassan
  
• Tehmeena Hassan
  
• Nicholas Keller
  
• Adenike Orogade
  
• Christine Paul
  
• Lena Dewald

Senate:

• Juan Callazos
  
• Justin Donlan
  
• Surena Ebrahimi
• Mark Gradoni
  
• Stavros Halkias
  
• Sunaina Khandelwal
  
• Justin Lane
  
• Phuoc (Toby) Le
  
• Timothy Mantegna
  
• Matthew McNey
  
• Josh Michael
  
• Tae Oh
  
• Josh Paiva
  
• Michael Rakoski
  
• Simmi Singh
  
• Rahilla Tarfa
  
• Gavin Way

Additionally, a number of candidates have participated in interviews and debates. A full video of the debates has been made available here, while the WMBC radio interview can be downloaded here. Ongoing coverage of the election has been provided by The Retriever Weekly.

Also on the ballot is Referendum A, a proposal supported by SGA that is explained here.


Be sure to take a short amount of time over the next few days to log in to Blackboard and cast your vote!

Victory: Library hours extended May 4th – May 19th

So the administration definitely listens. A week ago, Dr. Elliot Hirschman chose to present to the president and other members of the President Council, a pilot program (that extends the library hours by 2 hours one the week before final exam) to keep the library open for longer hours at least a week before the exams. He gave SGA senators who have been working towards this goal a chance to speak to the council and present our case. We did so and they were impressed. The President’s council decided to fund the extra $1500 cost of opening the library for later hours from May 4^th – May 19^th. They want to look at this two week test period and other statistics on library usage to decide whether or not to extend the library hours in the future.

So this two week period will be a test run. We as students need to show them that

1. We’re thankful that they paid attention to our needs.

2. We actually do need these longer hours, not only during the exam week but otherwise as well.

So, we need to make sure that every UMBC student is aware that the library will be open for longer hours during those two weeks. We need to use the space and show that we need the space.

Here are the exact dates and hours of services:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	May 4th 8am – 2am	May 5th 8am – 2am	May 6th 8am – 2am	May 7th 8am – 2am	May 8th 8am – 10pm	May 9th 10am –10pm
May 10th Noon – 2am	May 11th 8am – 2am	May 12th 8am – 2am	May 13th 8am – 2am	May 14th EXAM DAY 8am – 2am	May 15th EXAM DAY 8am – 10pm	May 16th 10am– 10pm
May 17th Noon – 2am	May 18th EXAM DAY 8am – 2am	May 19th EXAM DAY 8am – 2am	May 20th EXAM DAY 8am – 9pm	May 21st 8am – 5pm

The atrium is still open 24/7

Hours of service desks

Library Media

Monday-Thursday 8:30am – 11pm

Friday 8:30am – 6pm

Saturday 11am – 6pm

Sunday Noon – 11pm

Reference/Information

Monday – Thursday 9am – 9pm

Friday - 9am – 6pm

Saturday Noon – 6pm

Sunday Noon – 8pm

Gallery

M,Tu,W,F Noon – 4pm

Th Noon – 8pm

Serials

Monday – Thursday 8am – 10:30pm

Friday 8am – 6pm

Saturday 10am – 6pm

Sunday Noon–10:30pm

Slide Library – in room 216 in Fine Arts Building

Monday – Friday 9pm – 4pm

Special Collections

Monday – Friday 1pm – 4pm

Thursday, May 14^th 1pm – 8pm

Vote for Referendum A

What is the Student Activity Fee?

The Student Activity supports campus activities, student advocacy, and student organizations. It is one of six fees that all UMBC students pay each semester. Currently it is the lowest of all the fees at $78 per year or $4 per credit for part time students and is the only fee that hasn’t increased in the last 6 years. Please see the chart below to see a brief history of fee increases for all the student fees at UMBC. To see the details of all current fees for the Spring 2008 semester visit http://www.umbc.edu/sbs/tuition_spring_2008.


What does the Student Activity Fee fund?

The Student Activity Fee is directed by the Student Government Association and it funds over 250 student organizations and hundreds of events on campus. For example: Free Newspapers (Collegiate Readership Program), Homecoming, Stress Free Zone, DVD’s in the library, Quadmania, Involvement Fest, and large student events such as Jambo Night, Norouz, ASIA, PakSA Night and many. many more. For a full breakdown of the current SGA budget for FY 2009 please visit: http://sga.umbc.edu/budgets/FY%2009%20SGA%20Budget.htm. You can also view SEB's budget at http://sga.umbc.edu/budgets/SEB%20Budget%20FY09.htm and The Retriever Weekly’s Budget at http://sga.umbc.edu/budgets/TRW%20Budget%20FY09.htm.


What Referendum A is asking for?

Referendum A is the question of whether or not students support a $10 yearly increase in the Student Activity Fee.


Why does the Student Activity Fee need to be increased?

The Student Activity Fee hasn’t received a fee increase since 2003. Currently it is $39 per semester for full time students and $4 per credit for part time students. Over the last several years, the SGA has been operating at a deficit because of the large fund account that was built up due to conservative SGA spending from prior years. Since the 2006-2007 school year, the SGA has been spending more money than we have been bringing in due to increased demand for services. Obviously this situation cannot exist forever, either the fee must be increased or costs must be cut causing a reduction in student life. Also as time goes on due to increasing salary costs, inflation, and other items that SGA has become responsible for have caused SGA’s costs to rise. With this $5 per semester increase, we will be able to continue providing the services and events that campus demands.



Why Should I Support Referendum A?

You should support Referendum A if you support student life at UMBC. The Student Activity Fee is the only fee on campus that is student controlled. It also directly supports student life at UMBC. If you want to support student life you should support Referendum A.


What will happen if Referendum A fails?

If this doesn’t pass, many of these events and organizations will be significantly impacted. Not only would next year’s budget be seriously impacted with a number of cuts which include: a decrease in the student organizations budget, free newspapers (NY Times, Baltimore Sun, and USA Today) any future chance of another Prove It, funding for Welcome Week, Commuter events, and the Etiquette Banquet. The future of all organizations and events that depends on the Student Activity Fee will be in jeopardy. As new student organizations continue to be created and old ones expand, the demands for funding will only increase. Campus life is continually expanding as well. Without this increase, the support for this increased demand of student life will not be met and the current level of student life will decrease.

Adult Film Debate Roundup

As many students know, UMBC has found itself in the ongoing issue over screening adult films on University System of Maryland schools. Here are a few places to get informed about the debate:

• Baltimore Sun summary


• Washington Post editorial


• Commentary and discussion on UMBC


• My personal thoughts


• Paula McCusker, contact person

Remember That Survey?

The National Survey of Student Engagement? Freshmen and Seniors are being invited to participate in this survey to help UMBC's administration make changes to improve the school.

If you're one of the people selected, take the five minutes to go and fill out the survey. In addition to helping benefit the school, if you complete it before May 1st, you'll be entered to win one of four $100 Amazon gift cards.

**TAKE ACTION** Support Full Funding for Higher Education

Funding for USM institutions is at risk!  The House Appropriations Committee voted to decrease funding by $20.3 million last week.  Take 2 minutes to let your elected representatives know how important it is to support higher education (if you are an out-of-state student, feel free to use your campus address).

Click this link to TAKE ACTION to send an email message to your legislators letting them know that you support full-funding of the Governor's budget.  The sooner you send, the better.  Forward this link to your friends, parents, neighbors, and professors so that legislators hear how important funding higher education is (they can use this specific link).  It only takes a few minutes by simply entering your address and editing a pre-drafted message.  Be sure to let your legislators know your role in the USM (student, faculty, etc.).

A cut of $20.3 million will ensure tuition is not frozen for in-state undergaduates, lower the quality of programs for all students, and could threaten pay/job security for faculty and staff.

If you have further questions, please email me ASAP at joshmichael@umbc.edu or call me at (410) 294-8581.

Read this message from the USM website:

Support Higher Education Funding Oppose Legislative Cuts to Higher Education

Governor O’Malley’s FY 2010 budget proposal for the University System of Maryland supports the overarching goals shared by the state and the University System of Maryland:

• provide access to high-quality and affordable programs and services;
• ensure that the state’s public higher education system sustains its critical role in advancing Marylanders’ quality of life—intellectually, economically, socially, culturally, and in areas related to health.

The Department of Legislative Services is reccomending the General Assembly cut the USM funding by $5.7 million dollars and possibly more. Ask your legislators to reject this cut and fully fund higher education to maintain the quality, affordability and accessability of our public universities.

Tuition freeze warming up

Monday , Governor O'Malley stood with Senators Cardin and Mikulski at Bowie State University, explaining that the federal stimulus package would allow for greater investment in community colleges and for full-funding of a fourth year of an in-state, undergraduate tuition freeze.  The dedication of federal stimulus dollars seemed to seal the deal a fourth tuition freeze...

But on Tuesday , Governor O'Malley instead sat with Budget Secretary Eloise Foster, legislative leaders, and budget analysts, explaining that revenue estimates came in even lower than the already deflated expectations.  According to estimate, the Governor needs to fill an additional $516 million hole, tallying the total deficit to $1.1 billion.  Further layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts have been put back on the table.  And of course, funding to support a funded tuition freeze has as well.

Updates are sure to come in future days.  Recall that the Board of Regents (of which I am your student representative to) officially sets tuition rates, and will do so after the Legislative Session, which ends in mid-April.

Residential Life Clarifies Smoking Policy Enforcement

After some inquiry from students, Residential Life clarified their interpretation of the smoking policy at a recent meeting of the Community Directors, affirming that the inclusion of designated smoking areas in the UMBC Smoking Policy is not meant to prohibit smoking everywhere else on campus.

A source in Residential Life confirmed that ResLife will only be enforcing the 20 foot policy henceforth.

A rumor had previously circulated leading CD's and RA's to believe that the policy meant that if students smoked anywhere on campus besides the designated smoking areas, they could be subject to punitive action. Emails claiming this interpretation were sent to residents, and fliers were posted in residence halls containing this false information.

Hopefully this clarification will alleviate undue restrictions on students and allow for accurate enforcement of the actual policy in place.

For a more detailed description of how this clarification came about, visit my personal blog entry on The Rainbow Road Less Travelled By.

Fan Buses To Binghamton for Conference Championship

The SGA is funding a FREE bus for students for the Championships. The space is limited so sign up ASAP.

1. Buy your game ticket at he Commons Information Desk for $10.

2. Email spirit.czar@umbc.edu to reserve your spot on the bus. Include your name, email address, and student id in the email. DO NOT REPLY ON FACEBOOK!!!

3. Show up at the RAC BEFORE 5am on Saturday. We will be leaving promptly. Game is at 11am. We should be back by 7pm.

4. GET READY TO OWN BINGHAMTON AND MAKE OUR 2ND APPEARANCE IN THE NCAA’S!!!GO DAWGS!!!