Manfre and Desai proud of term's progress

By Erin Crager

As Associated Students President Rachel Manfre and Vice President Umang Desai begin their last two weeks in office, they feel proud of the year they've had.

"As an organization, we really have accomplished a lot this year," said Manfre. "Hopefully we'll be able to leave some things for whoever the next administration is to come and share some things we wish we had the time to accomplish."

The two seniors' major accomplishments include re-launching the Be Heard Campaign, expanding the buddy system, creating a campaign against Juicy Campus, encouraging students to be represented with Rock the Vote, pushing forward an off-campus party planning program and helping to continue the tradition of Senior Ball.

Manfre and Desai made it clear that they would not be able to do their jobs if it weren't for the rest of AS.

"I think the most important thing to know is that yes, there are things that Umang and I do, but as an organization we can't function without everyone working as a unit," said Manfre.

In an effort to make communication between student government and the administration more time-efficient, Manfre and Desai nearly doubled the size of the buddy system, a program that matches AS members up with administrators to go out for coffee or lunch once or twice a week.

Desai elaborated on how the buddy system sped up the communication process between AS and the administration.

"The real benefit of that relationship came up when there was an issue. If we were trying to get banners on the buildings for a game-day environment, the buddy of Joe Sugg could just ask him, 'Hey, how do we go about getting these banners?' instead of having some member of AS try to strike up a relationship. It just helped us accomplish that much more this year."

Jeanne Rosenberger, vice provost for student life, has worked with Desai since his freshman year and meets with Manfre on a weekly basis.

"Students would meet regularly with the administrator, get to know them and find out how what they do impacts students," said Rosenberger. "If certain questions concerning that particular administrator's position came up in Be Heard, then AS had a quick way to find the answer."

The Be Heard Campaign gives students an opportunity to ask questions or make suggestions to the student body.

AS then takes responsibility for finding the answers to questions that are of interest to students.

For instance, new sand was added to the volleyball court behind Dunne Hall two weeks ago after Manfre, Desai and other members of AS passed a resolution in response to student concerns over the thin layer between their knees and the concrete.

Manfre and Desai also both expressed concern over the planning process for this year's Senior Ball, saying they felt pressed for time before offering the event to seniors.

"Since last May we've been trying to make headway as far as knowing if Senior Ball is going to happen, working with the administration to see what we can do," said Manfre. "We didn't get an answer until a few weeks ago."

Manfre and Desai continue to work on initiatives they've been planning since the beginning of their term, including a new program that would work to improve relations between off-campus students and police with respect to throwing parties.

Both remain hopeful that the progress they've made toward finishing these initiatives will motivate the winning ticket to take them to the next level.

Contact Erin Crager at ecrager@scu.edu.