January 19, 2010
Here is chronology and description of some of the events and activities undertaken by the Del Mar College Student Government Association (SGA) during the past year.
February-Community College Day in Austin-In attendance were Beth Wilson, Brandina Stapler, Nick Huerta, Ron Hartman, Alan Roberts, Renato Ramirez (Faculty Advisor)-DMC sent over 100 students from both East and West Campuses-We had the largest contingent of students from any college in the state-The College President and other members of the administration were present also-A resolution in recognition of DMC was read and adopted on the floor of the State House of Representatives-We met with all three local representatives and our state senator’s staff while there-Though this event was open to all students on campus, the SGA’s presence significant because of the number of its members there.
April-The SGA attended the SGA State Convention in Austin-In attendance was Alan Roberts, Aaron Green, Divia Genish, Meghan Beltran, John Rodriguez, Stephen Martinez from the Foghorn, Brandina Stapler, John Prezas (Advisor), Renato Ramirez (Advsior)-Both students and advisors attended meetings from 8 am to 10 pm and beyond every day of the Convention-Two students in particular, Alan Roberts and Brandina Stapler served on the Executive Committee of the Region VI SGA. Everyone enjoyed the Convention and came away motivated to learn and do more.
Summer-The SGA continued to meet in informal and impromptu meetings several times during the summer. Parking appeals by students were either settled or dismissed. The failure of students to appear at the hearings held by the SGA is beyond the control of the SGA. The SGA upheld its responsibilities in providing the hearings. State Representative Todd Hunter held a Town Hall Meeting at the Wolf Recital Hall that was open to the entire public. The legislative update was attended by a few people only. I, (Renato Ramirez) attended and I encouraged my on-campus and on-line students to attend. Mr. Alan Roberts of the SGA was present at the event and participated by asking questions of the Representative. Beth Wilson attended a seminar that solicited input from students on how to make the DMC webpage more user friendly and student oriented.
Fall-The DMC SGA along with the Biology Club brought a Fulbright Scholar to the campus for a presentation on global climate change. It was held in the Retama Room of the Harvin Center and was open to the public and was well attended. Mr. Bryan Rafael, Treasurer of the SGA and member of the Biology Club welcomed all in attendance and introduced the guest speaker. It was handled very professionally. Meghan Beltran of the SGA welcomed people as they arrived at the event and she coordinated the date and time for the event with the speaker.
For the Fall Carnival, the Director of Student Activities and Campus Life (Mr. Jason Saladiner) proposed to the SGA prior to the Fall Registered Student Organization (RSO) Luncheon that the SGA surrender all the proceeds it collects from the sale of sodas to every other RSO on both East and West Campuses. The amount given to each club did not amount to very much, but the SGA received absolutely nothing.
Fall-New membership after rush week brought new people with new ideas to the SGA. The SGA embarked on an ambitious goal to unite both campuses under a single constitution with the support of the Mr. Jason Saladiner, something that has not happened at DMC in the twenty years I have been here. Ambitious change requires slow, deliberate consideration. Witness the City Council of Corpus Christi on the issue of the Memorial Coliseum or the US Congress on the issue of health care. They have been wrestling with these issues for more than a year without results yet. People get impatient for results but the elected members understand that potentially permanent change should not be rushed to meet some arbitrary deadline to satisfy an impatient public. The same applies to the SGA. They met every week of the Fall semester, either formally or informally, to come up with a draft of a constitution that will serve to unite the East and West Campuses under a single document. The draft is complete and is undergoing a last review by the SGA and its Advisors before being submitted to the students for a vote.
Also in the Fall, members of the SGA purchased promotional material (tee shirts, lanyards, markers) to publicize the organization. Members participated in the annual beach clean-up. Members participated in a breast cancer awareness march in downtown Corpus Christi. There were more events that the SGA participated that slip my memory right now.
For the Foghorn to say that the group did absolutely nothing is false. Publicity is good, but when it is inaccurate and consistently negative it demoralizes the members of the group and discourages others from participating. I ask that the campus press tape record our meetings so that they have a complete record of the proceedings, then review the tape with the entire newspaper staff once or more if necessary before making collective judgments on the value of the organization.
2 comments
The Foghorn did nothing but expose the lack of leadership that your prized organization failed to present.
I feel bad for Ms. Klein because she seemed to be the only advisor with a clue about what student government is supposed to be, and you're a Government teacher?
If you ask me, Andrew Dimas ran things better than the way it was being run recently, and he had fun doing it. All you were lacking is sex parties.