The Spring Hillian

By Caroline Gernhauser

            Newly elected Student Government President, Jordan Biggers, has big plans for this academic year on the Hill. 

           After all the SGA members stumbled in, the 9 p.m. Wednesday meeting began with a word and a knock of the gavel from Vice President, Kevin Curca-Reilly.  To Reilly’s right sat a man who has set a new precedent for the current Spring Hill year.  He passed out the table tents with each SGA executive member’s title and smiled to the table of people before commencing with a Hail Mary. 

          The first name announced at roll call, President Jordan Biggers, caught the ear of all. His presence silenced the room as he patiently began to speak. 

           Biggers looked to his SGA executives and senators and spoke to them with compassion, sympathy and meaning.  The empowerment in his tone filled the room as he explained that he wants to “work on efficiency and trim the fat.” 

            Trimming the fat, clarified by Biggers, is simply focusing in on what needs to be done to better the school and removing the excess that is not of any importance.

            He took the notion of efficiency into effect and moved forward in the SGA field by combining the student involvement role with the student concerns executive position.  Biggers encouraged senators to ask questions before voting on a movement and for all to make an equal, fair decision.

           After discussing minor details throughout the agenda, Biggers initiated the topic of his vision for the year. When he met with Vice President and Dean of Students, Joe Deighton, he discovered that he has a lot in common with what Deighton wants to offer for this year.

        “Administration is not out to get us,” said Biggers. “We want students to trust us to get things done.”

 One main concern for this year is to gain respect from the student body and connect that to the school officials, creating a positive relationship. Biggers helped the SGA members to have a positive outlook for the year by using his moving words. 

“We [Student Government] can solve problems but it’s time to celebrate what we have,” said Biggers. “That is what makes this place so great.” He said he tries to never to looks at the new ideas as an “I” but rather as a “we.” He notices how strong of a community we have and is looking forward to making beneficial changes for the student body.�

By Abby Cowart

Almost half of the nation’s undergraduate students show no gains in learning after their first two years of college, according to results from recent surveys and standardized test scores from the Collegiate Learning Assessment. 

Reports released from the CLA, a standardized testing service that evaluates students’ abilities in critical thinking, reasoning and writing, show that after two years of college, 45 percent of undergraduates showed no significant gains in learning. Approximately 36 percent showed little change after four years.

These statistics, along with several others found in the CLA research, have proved interesting for academic administrators across the nation. According to the research, college students are spending 50 percent less time studying than students did a few decades ago. It also discovered on average, students earned a grade-point average of 3.2. Keeping these statistics in mind, many colleges and universities are concerned that students are graduating college without investing adequate effort or reaching full potential in regards to academics.

This growing problem has left college administrators with the task of determining both what the cause of this issue is and what can be done to prevent it. According to Dr. George Sims, provost of Spring Hill College, before new measures can be put into action to counteract this learning deficiency, the most accurate assessment of the learning outcomes must be determined. Sims fears the current measurement technique Spring Hill uses may not be producing precise results. “When we ask graduating seniors to take an assessment test that is not connected to a class and does not affect a grade, it is difficult for us to expect to get their best work,” said Sims. Instead, he suggests testing must be performed by a method that can ensure students are putting forth their best effort, therefore creating results that are an accurate representation of the knowledge they have attained.

 But in addition to finding a learning assessment method that yields precise results, college administrators are also looking to pinpoint the cause or causes behind these new statistics to better determine how to tackle the problem. One of the causes several professors and other research analysts have cited is the influence collegiate institutions have placed on students in their first two years to develop socially in their new environment. According to Dr. Margaret Davis, English professor and Director of Core Curriculum at Spring Hill, finding a balance between the focus placed on the academic and social sectors is crucial.

Davis says the number of students who come to class prepared and committed to learning in the classroom environment is too few. “I think most of my colleagues would agree with me that our students are not as interested in the academic aspect of their college experience as we would hope, that social activities claim too much of their attention,” said Davis. “While there are multiple and wonderful exceptions, I fear that the student culture on this campus in general does not value academic achievement at its highest level.”

Several Spring Hill students agree that the social pressures and tendencies present in the first two years of college hinder the proper allocation of time and dedication to academics. Sophomore Alan Corder attributes this disconnect to a misperception of the purpose and expectations of college students in today’s society.

“More and more incoming college students believe college is a place to party instead of a place to learn,” said Corder. “In many cases, college is the first time a person has real freedom and that new freedom can lead them to focus more on the social aspects of college instead of academics.” 

According to the book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, when college students were polled on how they spend their time in a 168-hour week, an average of 51 percent of their time was dedicated to socializing and recreating. Seven percent of time was allocated to studying.  

However, socializing is not the only cause receiving blame. Additional research performed in the CLA study showed that 35 percent of students reported spending five or fewer hours per week studying alone. Instead, the push toward “group study” and collaborative work has left students with lower gains in learning.

Regardless of the various causes that have been taken into consideration, Sims and Davis agree there are steps that can be taken to be proactive against this trend in college academics. First, Sims says that setting a higher academic standard for freshman students early in their first semester could aide in preventing the tendency of many students to get accustomed to a particular studying technique.

“Faculty members have tried to take it easy on freshmen students for the first six weeks of college in an effort to allow them time to adjust to their new environment,” said Sims. “But because of that stance, students have learned to calibrate their time in a particular way, and as their workload increases throughout their college career, they struggle to adapt accordingly.”

Another element crucial to offsetting this trend can be found in reassessing the core curriculum colleges and universities require of undergraduate students.
 

Davis believes the learning outcomes achieved in the core curriculum requirements at Spring Hill will benefit students in showing gains in learning. Because of the broad range of classes and learning opportunities the curriculum exposes students to, along with the mission-driven purpose found in the Jesuit mission, Davis predicts Spring Hill students will be at an advantage as compared to students at universities who have a less structured core curriculum.

The Core Development Committee at Spring Hill is currently evaluating the curriculum to determine the gaps in learning and consider how revising the core can close them. Despite the research that has been reported by the CLA, administrators remain optimistic that Spring Hill students will fair better in terms of academic achievement.

“We don’t test precisely for those learning outcomes [tested in the CLA] at present, though we are in the process of constructing assessment tools to do just that and hope to have some of them in place by the end of this year,” said Davis. “I can only conjecture now that Spring Hill students would show gains in learning.”

By DeMarco Wills

As students begin to put together their schedules for the spring semester, they will see something slightly different for the time frame of classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Starting in the spring, a common hour will be implemented from 12 p.m. until 1:30 p.m., and no classes will be held during this time. Because of this break in the middle of the day, the first classes for Tuesdays and Thursdays will start at 7:45 a.m. and end at 9 a.m.

Provost for Spring Hill College George Sims said, “It has gotten where it is extremely difficult to schedule meetings with students and faculty. If meetings involve faculty and staff, they are being scheduled at 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon. If they involve students, the only time to schedule them is well into the evening. This has really had an effect on a group’s ability to get together because everyone’s schedule is different. We wanted to make it so that groups are able to work together.”

The common hour is being included in the schedule for the spring semester in order to fix this problem. Clubs and groups on campus will have a scheduled time to meet available to them that agrees with all of the members’ schedules and more of the faculty advisors can be present at these meetings; although, it is not mandatory for student groups to meet during this time.

Dean of Students Joe Deighton said, “Hopefully, it will open some more stability with faculty to meet with students. Because they will not have the conflict of teaching a class, they can meet with their students if they are advising a group or a club. Many of these meetings have to happen early in the morning or late at night. When it happens late at night, advisors aren’t able to come back to campus.”

However, some already feel the common hour isn’t a necessity for the school. Senior Crystal Womack said, “It’s not a priority. Club meetings are something that can be done during their ‘free time.’ This is only going to cause overcrowding in the caf. Then, what are they going to do?”

Sophomore Payton Tanner believes having a common hour is a good idea. “I wouldn’t mind waking up a little earlier for class if it meant I had some extra free time during the day.”

During the 2007-2008 school year, the common hour was every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:15 p.m. but had to be changed while preparing to rebuild the Student Center. In order to prevent overcrowding while the cafeteria was in the recreation center, it was decided to have classes planned during the common hour in order to break up the lunch crowds.

According to Deighton, with a bigger facility, the common hour can be brought back to the campus. There is worry that the common hour may cause overcrowding in the cafeteria, but there are hopes that the hour and a half break will thin out some of the lunch crowd.

“This is an experiment. We are going to see what happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If it doesn’t work, we will have to go back to the drawing board and change the dates or times to see can we make this possible,” Deighton said.

Once the spring semester starts and the common hour is implemented, Sims welcomes the input of students about its effectiveness.

Sims said, “About a month into the semester, we have to begin schedule the classes for fall 2011. We have to begin developing that by Feb. 1, when we  will welcome leaders of student organizations, once they see how this works, to share either with Academic Affairs or Joe Deighton’s office or SGA their feelings about how it’s working. We are committed to this, but we are willing to adjust it if it’s not meeting the needs of the community, but you got to start somewhere.”

By Jacob Browning

It’s getting close to midterm elections in the United States. Last week, Congress adjourned, and lawmakers returned to their home states to campaign for re-election.

The political divide has become more and more prevalent. Words like “Obamacare” and “Teabaggers” have been thrown from both sides of the aisle. How divisive are the issues on Spring Hill College’s campus? According to political science professor Dr. Tom Hoffman, not a whole lot.

“This campus in particular is pretty quiet. And that is an interesting thing to note. I think a lot of our students are almost too polite to demonstrate,” said Hoffman.

This quiet can be ascribed to the lack of energy remaining after a tough week of classes. Hoffman himself faces this challenge. 

“I don’t think it’s entirely bad that people aren’t always informed or always agitating because if they’re thinking about Plato, that takes time and energy. I find when I teach political philosophy it’s hard for me to really get in to it when I have to keep up with current events. There is only so much time in a day…” said Hoffman. 

But how bad is the partisanship really? Are very clearly defined party lines bad for the country? Hoffman says no, that it can be ascribed to political cycles.             “The 50s and 60s were a relatively nonpartisan time, and since then we’ve been moving [toward a] more partisan [government],” said Hoffman.

He also says that politics today are not for the fainthearted.

“A certain number of people will be turned off by the discourse because it seems so combative. But other people get turned on by it now, it’s more of a contact sport than it used to be, it’s more interesting in some ways,” Hoffman said. 

It would be easy to slip into passivity and cynicism in regards to the government, especially now. But Hoffman warns that cynicism and passivity are not good for the country. 

“There are a lot of things to be discouraged about, but I hope most people don’t take the next step which is into cynicism. Cynicism itself tends to be counterproductive,” Hoffman said.

An important aspect in participating in politics is being informed. How does one become fully informed?  The glut of information is a double edged sword, admitted Hoffman.

“The problem is some of it is being thrown at you, and the rest of it you’ve got to take some initiative to find. I would recommend that people pick one or two issues they care about and try to look at sources and viewpoints they might not normally accept and see if they can find some good in it,” advised Hoffman.

Hoffman admitted that despite best efforts, it is impossible to be informed on every issue since there is such a massive amount of information. Things aren’t as simple as some would lead you to believe, said Hoffman.

“The world’s too complicated now and there’s so much information that you will fall into this pattern of grabbing the easiest information which is going to be stuff that people with an incentive to scare the heck out of you are giving you,” Hoffman said.

By Jacob Browning

It has been almost a year since Fr. Richard Salmi, SJ took the reins of Spring Hill
College, becoming its 38^th president. He takes a look back, having nearly completed his first year as president.

Fr. Salmi took over during the economic down turn. The challenges were great, admitted Salmi, but he did not let it stop him from “continuing to do the things we felt needed to get done.”

Under his management, the campus population has grown to around 1,300. But, he would like to see it go even higher.

“We are very pleased to see that the enrollment continues to grow, we want to see it grow. We built the campus with capacity for more students,” Fr. Salmi said.

When questioned as to what that capacity might be, Fr. Salmi responded,“I think there’s easily room for a couple hundred more students. And that’s looking at it from a residential perspective.” He remains optimistic that he will see the population rise to over 2,000 in the coming years.

Fr. Salmi has overseen the campus grow more than just population wise. The Italy
Center is set to have its first classes in January 2011. “I think that [the Italy Center is] going to be a brilliant addition to our college and a wonderful asset for our students,” he said.

He is also proud of the financial planning that has taken place under the direction of Chief Financial Officer, Rhonda Shirazi. According to Fr. Salmi, the plan aims to show “the way out of some of these financial struggles that [the college is] in” and will push Spring Hill “toward being financially sound.”

Fr. Salmi hopes that his next year will be as successful as the first. He wants to examine the Marine Biology program here at Spring Hill, and hopes to work with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. In light of recent events, Salmi said, “We’ve all been made much more aware of the Gulf of Mexico and marine life in general.”

On top of Marine Biology, he also wants to examine to possibility of forming a School of Business, rather than just having a Division of Business. Fr. Salmi wants to look at the Nursing Program as well.

As far as new construction goes, Fr. Salmi said, “No college campus should be without a steam shovel.” But he admitted that building will be put on hold until the “financial ship” of the college can be righted.

Despite no near plans for new building, Fr. Salmi hopes one day to build a new complex for the sciences. “We have a great faculty and they do tremendous work in not-so-nice facilities. It would be great if we could figure out a way to work on that,” Fr. Salmi said.

Fr. Salmi understands that the transition from being the “new” president to being the president is an arduous one. “As a rookie president, I’ve made my fair share of rookie mistakes, but the college community the campus community has been very good to me in helping me to be their president which has been nice,” he said.

By Jacob Browning

The new student center opened in June, but it is only now being put to the test. The building may be complete, but plans are still in the works. According to Joe Deighton, Dean of Students, improvements to the Cloister are at the top of the priorities list.

Additions to the Cloister include shadowboxes with athletic memorabilia, more stools at the bar and a system to display student art.

Improvements to the dining and lounge of the student center include more tables and chairs as needed, more televisions to display informational messages, a new custom-made information desk, and umbrellas for the outdoor tables.
Students may have noticed a large crowd during meal times, especially lunch. Deighton assures the student body that despite appearances, there still remains room to grow.

“The way classes are scheduled, and people are not coming all at once despite it appearing that way, with the hours they’re open and the staggering of the classes, we seem to be okay,” said Deighton.

Deighton emphasized that he has heard of no one searching for a place to sit, but concedes that perhaps it may be harder at peak times to find an empty table for a larger group of students.

Despite the student center being officially opened for more than three months, the Aramark staff and others are still learning to properly and efficiently use the facilities. Only recently has there been a large number of students using the building at once. It will certainly take time for everyone to adjust to the ins and outs of the building.

Deighton would like to make it very clear that when the building was scaled down, the dining area was unaffected. Services like Wellness and Public Safety and some Residence Life services were dispersed to existing buildings on campus which allowed the dining room to remain the size it had always been planned to be.

According to a previous SpringHillian article, the pool area is not going to hold a pool. Deighton explains that option is back on the table along with many others.

Some options for the pool space include: turning the space back into a pool, opening a new fitness/wellness area, adding an alternate gym space, or installing an expanded weight room.

Ultimately the decision will be up to the Director of Athletics, Jim Hall, and the President, but student input is desired.

The LeBlanc room on the second floor of the new student center is already showing its worth. Last week it hosted the well attended tribute to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” This space frees up areas like Byrne Hall for outside rentals, providing another avenue of income for the school.

The new student center is a functional and useful facility that will serve the Spring Hill College community for many years to come.

Welcome to the homepage of The SpringHillian, the student newspaper of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala.

The staff, under the student direction of co-editors Katelyn Ikner and DeMarco Wills, is planning for its fall semester publications. The first issue of the 2010-2011 school year will be distributed on Thursday, Sept. 9.

This fall, The SpringHillian staff includes seven students, as well as assorted volunteer writers. The staff aims to provide coverage of campus events and issues, interesting feature stories, strong opinions and exciting sports coverage.

While you wait on the first issue, be sure to vote in our student poll! And, if you’re interested in previous issues of The SpringHillian, check out web-based versions at www.issuu.com/thespringhillian.

By Kendrick Dunklin

In fall 2009, Spring Hill College’s Greek Life decided to expand the number of fraternities on campus.  Sigma Chi, a Greek organization which was suspended from Spring Hill College in 2005, received but rejected the invitation to apply for Spring Hill’s Greek expansion process, according to Jennifer Stallings, Director of Student Leadership & Involvement. 

“We decided in 2009 that we would pursue Greek expansion.  When we met with Sigma Chi, they were told that they would be receiving a letter explaining the Greek expansion process and that they would have to apply,” said Stallings. 

“They asked us, since they had been here before, if they would get special consideration, and they were told yes.  We had room for that in our policy, but they were one of four fraternities that had been here before that wanted to come back.   Three of the other fraternities did apply, but Sigma Chi did not apply.  Sigma Chi was directly told that they would have to participate in this process, and they were given a copy of our expansion process.” 

The revocation of Sigma Chi

The Theta Mu charter of Sigma Chi was revoked in October 2005 by Spring Hill due to an alcohol related incident involving underage drinkers, according to a November 2005 issue of The SpringHillian.   

The removal came months after Sigma Chi members were involved in a fight at an off-campus location in May 2005, according to the Press-Register.  The off-campus fight resulted in the suspension of those members involved in the fight.   

During that time, there were also reports of hazing made to the national headquarters of Sigma Chi, according to Ken Kvalheim, Grand Praetor of the Sigma Chi Southern Region.  He felt that the organization was not given enough time and information to respond to Sigma Chi’s removal. 

“We were never told the full story behind the incident.  We were told that there was an incident of hazing on campus, which cannot be true because we did not have any pledges at that time,” said Kvalheim. 

“We were also informed of some instances of misconduct from members of Sigma Chi, but we were never given enough time or information from Spring Hill’s administration or the Theta Mu chapter of Sigma Chi to appeal the decision.” 

Sigma Chi was then eligible to reapply for a new on-campus charter in 2008, according to The SpringHillian. 

Spring Hill’s invitation to Greek expansion

According to the Sigma Chi Fraternity Standard Operating Procedures Manual, “the Executive Committee must have received express written permission from the host institution, granting permission to reestablish a suspended chapter.”  The manual also states that “the chapter must comply in full with the host institution’s requirements with respect to their return to campus.” 

Kvalheim confirmed that Sigma Chi received a letter inviting them to return to Spring Hill’s campus, but the organization rejected the invitation because the invitation asked Sigma Chi to apply to recolonize on Spring Hill’s campus. 

“We received information last summer regarding colonizing a charter on Spring Hill’s campus, but we do not need to colonize a charter when we already have one.  We just need to be recognized on campus,” said Kvalheim. 

Yet, Joseph Deighton, Vice President of Student Affairs, stated that he met with Kvalheim in 2007, and informed him that in order for Sigma Chi to be recognized on campus, the organization must go through the Greek expansion process. 

“I have explained this process at least twice about whether Sigma Chi could automatically come back to be recognized and be allowed to function on this campus.   I met with Kvalheim to inform him that we had set up a Greek expansion process, and that they would be allowed to participate in that process,” Deighton stated. 

“I informed Kvalheim that it was not just going to automatically happen, but that we are going to use a committee that looked at anybody who was applying to see if they fit our mission and goals of Greek Life, and then we would make a selection.” 

The issue of unrecognized organizations

Stallings stated that a number of students have come to her with concerns over underground organizations.   

“A number of students have brought that concern forward and asked us to look at it, and they are looking at the issue themselves,” said Stallings.  “There is actually a student group that is looking at unrecognized student organizations in general, and Sigma Chi is not the only organization they are looking at.” 

Stallings stated that students are concerned because they feel that these unrecognized organizations are not following the same standards as recognized organizations.  

“They are living up to a certain standard, and there is another organization that is not being held to the same standard.  They have to fight against someone that is not living to those same standards,” stated Stallings. 

“We operate as a Greek community and all of these groups have a partnership with our college, and that is how we look at it.  We have similar values and similar missions, and that brings something positive to our campus.  So, we have existing relationships with those groups that are recognized.  As part of those relationships, they meet certain standards, they follow certain polices, rules and guidelines.” 

Deighton views underground organizations as more of a safety issue. 

“There are reasons behind those rules that exist for individuals and for student groups.  Those rules protect our students and protect our community, and if people come on to our campus with disregard to those rules and not willing to partake in the process that covers those rules, then there can be danger to individuals,” Deighton said. 

Yet, Kvalheim maintains that there is not an underground charter of Sigma Chi being operated on Spring Hill’s campus. 

“We are not an underground chapter, so there is not anyone on campus involved in an underground chapter regarding Sigma Chi.  We do have an alumni chapter in Mobile that Spring Hill students are currently involved in,” stated Kvalheim.

By DeMarco Wills

Spring Hill College has released a new version of BadgerWeb and plans on continuing the transition from ERes to Moodle.

According to Theresa Crider, the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, the old BadgerWeb had a straightforward purpose. It was a tool that allowed faculty to do advisement and grade entry for the students that they interacted with.

For students, it was an online environment where they able to look at their grades, review course schedules and register for classes.

The old BadgerWeb is being taken down because the interface was no longer being supported by the company who created it and the company was coming out with a new enhanced version.

Crider said, “We knew at some we point we would have to find something that would replace that particular tool, and we decided after reviewing a variety of different tools to go with the upgraded version that was put together by the same company.” 

The new BadgerWeb will be able to do the same things as the old version, but it will also have community building components to connect everyone on campus.

“We have space for organizations to meet virtually; ways for them to post their documents, get their calendars to the groups people belong to. It is role space which means that depending on whoever you are in the community, you are just going to see content that is important to you, so it kind of cuts out on that mass emailing that we get,” Crider said.

ERes is slowly being phased out for Moodle. According to Surenderan Naiker, the Instructional Design Specialist in the ITS department, the transition is in progress. There isn’t a specified date to when ERes will be officially terminated.

“Many professors are still using ERes, and it’s being made mandatory for them to switch over,” Naiker said.

ERes is a smaller version of the Moodle software. All of the material instructors have on the ERes site can be easily translated into Moodle.

Naiker said, “The ERes site is mainly a document repository, meaning an instructor can go there, place documents there, and the student can go view them or print them out. Moodle does more of course management. You can have online discussions, quizzes that can be graded automatically. Moodle will replace ERes, but it offers much as well. The same things you can do in ERes you can do in Moodle. As instructors learn Moodle and get comfortable with it, they will begin to shift to that site.”

Moodle is capable of handling any multimedia that is available online.  “A teacher can instead of assigning videos for you guys to watch in library. We can put them online. We have the technology here that allows us to put a video online therefore all you have to do is click on the link and you can play it in the classroom or at your leisure,” Naiker said.

Both of these technologies offer the option for students and faculty to utilize personalization options.

In the new BadgerWeb, this component is called My Pages. Students can subscribe to calendars for things such as athletics, work study and anything else that gets created on the site.

Mini portals, similar to bookmarks, can be setup on a user’s personal page which allows that user to connect to things more quickly like being able to see your grades, courses or campus group pages.

Moodle gives the SHC community similar features as well.

Naiker said, “You can go in and message your classmates and instructors, and you can see their profile. In Moodle you have your own profile. When you log in, you log in as yourself. You can put a picture of yourself up there and any information you want. You also have the ability to put up any biographical details in there, which is the cool thing about it. It helps create a community online.”

As a review tool, instructors can put up quizzes for grades or for reviews, whichever they like. Students can review them and look at their grades instantly. It’s a great tool that instructors can use so they don’t have to spend class time to utilize. Also, assignments given to students are able to be submitted on Moodle. 

The new BadgerWeb is expected to be fully functional within the first few weeks of fall semester. 

“There are still some bugs to work out. We will have almost all if not all of the functionality for current students and faculty available and ready to go before school begins next fall. You will be able to see course and fee statements online. Your balance will be live, and you will be able to make payments online, which would immediately post to your account, so you can see it real time. We have links that go to things like Moodle and other resources. It will really be a one-stop shop. Any organization will be able to setup space to hear suggestions and comments from students,” Crider said.

Into the fall, ERes will still be available to faculty and students. Even though there are no official plans to take down ERes, Naiker sees more instructors utilizing the technology themselves. 

“Hopefully, we will have more hybrid courses which will be face-to-face and online that will help professors transition better with the technology,” Naiker said.

By Megan Wigal-Harrison

Junior Cory Bronenkamp and freshman Carleigh Lanclos have been elected as the SGA president and vice president for the 2010-2011 term. They began their term on Wednesday, March 17.

Bronenkamp and Lanclos are not new to student government but both are very experienced. Bronenkamp has served as senator for SGA for the past two years. Lanclos served as a senator last term. Both were also involved in their high schools’ student governments.

Bronenkamp and Lanclos are in agreement that there needs to be a change in SGA. “What I want to do is make SGA more transparent,” said Bronenkamp. He wants students to be able to know that SGA is there for them. SGA is for the students, and it is a recourse that will go to bat for students when they have issues or problems that they can’t resolve on their own. Bronenkamp also said that students need to know that SGA is not run by administration, but solely by students.

Bronenkamp and Lanclos want students to get involved with SGA since its main purpose is for the students. They hope that more people will attend the weekly meetings, which are held on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. in the library.

The SGA’s new leaders also want to bridge the gap between SGA and SHC students by utilizing the new Badgerweb. The new Badgerweb will have a special tab for SGA. The new president and vice president want to create blogs or forums that students can actually read and comment on. Bronenkamp said that this would be a good way to let students know what is really going on with certain issues, such as what is going to happen to the pooleteria.

When asked about the current SGA, Bronenkamp said that Colby Melvin and the current administration have paved the way for an easy transition for the newly elected members, yet it is going to be “tough because he [Melvin] has a lot of ongoing projects that we’re going to have to continue with, which is a good thing.”

The new president and vice president would also like to “ensure we utilize the new campus center to its full potential,” stated Bronenkamp. Bronenkamp and Lanclos would like to have some events next year that could be hosted in different parts of the new student center as a way to showcase it.

Bronenkamp said that he ran for SGA president because it was a “way for me to use my talents to the best of my ability.” When he came to SHC freshman year one of his goals was to become the student body president. He is excited that he has reached his goal and is even more excited to represent the students of Spring Hill College.

When asked why he chose Lanclos as a running-mate, Bronenkamp said, “I was able to recognize the skills that she had as a leader.” Bronenkamp explained that 60 percent of the student population is female so it was important to have a female represent that percentage.

In addition to president and vice president, the 2010-2011 SGA senators were also elected. The senior class senators are Staci Sternberger, Jonathon Sealy, Carlos Hernandez and Kendall Schafer. The junior class senators are Brock Boone, Jordan Biggers and Anthony Harris. The sophomore class senators are Gabriel Wagner, Rachel Buzbee and Benjamin Burgess.