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March 28, 2024

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Spring Housing Guide

A Closer Look

Presidential Candidates:

Jim Wasil (Vice- Chelsea Howard)

Bernard Little (Vice- Kristen Kulbis)

Pedro Machado (Vice- Andrew Wuebold)

Current roles on campus:

Jim: Co-Chair of College Republicans, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Sigma Pi

Bernard: Vice President of USG, Vice President of recruitment for Alpha Sigma Phi, Homecoming Royalty Chair, Summer Orientation Leader, Member of University Discipline Committee, member of Cru Leadership Team

Pedro: Army ROTC, Sport Management Alliance, BGSU Rugby Football Club

Leadership skills:

Jim/Chelsea: We both are dedicated, hard working, we like to bring a lot of new ideas to USG, we want to fix some problems, and help students become more aware of solving problems.

Bernard/Kristen: Teamwork, great communication skills, great organization skills, and time-management

Pedro/Andrew: Through Army, we are taught how to lead and work under stressful situations. Army has taught me a lot of values and those values include loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage.

Issues:

1) B!G Charge and Bursar

Jim/Chelsea: We are for the One-Card bursar plan which would be more of a debit card, it would include free checking, serve as a meal plan as well as the students’ I.D. card. It would offer refund checks which could save the University money.

Bernard/Kristen: We want to keep around the bursar and B!G Charge for students. But we want to make sure the students are going to be included no matter what decision is made. We don’t want students to be surprised.

Pedro/Andrew: I am completely against the new system, I think we should keep it the way it is, and this affects not only students, but student organizations as well.

2) Student Organization Funding

Jim/Chelsea: We want to re-write the rules; we want to increase the knowledge of fundraising and team up with off-campus organizations and build a relationship with them. A lot of students are not happy with what they are receiving.

Bernard/Kristen: We have put on forums and brought in national speakers to help promote successful fundraising, we are working for more funding by showing the administration that we are serious.

Pedro/Andrew: Right now, the rules are unclear on how all the money is distributed. What I would like to do is distribute money equally to every organization on campus, but it would depend on how many members would be in the organizations, it would be a proportional distribution.

3) Higher Education Funding and Think Ohio

Jim/Chelsea: We want to encourage more students to visit high schools to inform students about the costs of college, we want to get more involved and also get politicians to come to campus to let them know that they are not doing the best job, and we have the connections to do so.

Bernard/Kristen: We want to continue to let legislators know that we are taking education funding seriously, we want to educate families of high school students to talk to legislators as well. We want to lower tuition without cutting services that the campus provides such as health center, the rec, and computer labs.

Pedro/Andrew: We want to work with Think Ohio to reduce tuition costs.

4) Mid-semester teacher polls

Jim/Chelsea: We do not want mid-semester polling because a lot can change in a half of a semester, however we are working to make those evaluations open to the public for free so students can look up information on how teachers teach. If teachers are not performing well the University should take note.

Bernard/Kristen: No one looks at the current evaluations until summer and they are not taken too seriously. We think students should be able to evaluate teachers half way through the semester. That way, if professors see a pattern of students not understanding things, they can change their style mid- semester. Students’ names would remain anonymous so it wouldn’t affect their relationship with teachers.

Pedro/Andrew: If it is proven to be a good idea, then I would implement it. Sometimes students need to express their feelings towards teachers in order for teachers to change their ways.

5) Budget and Tuition

Jim/Chelsea: We need to look at the budget and make information as public as possible to make students aware of where their money is actually going. I bet if a lot of students knew where their money was going, they would not be too happy.

Bernard/Kristen: We want to say we are lowering tuition, but it is a problem because our university fortunately provides us with so many services that other universities do not. So it is hard to lower tuition without cutting services. If there is a way though, we would love to.

Pedro/Andrew: We are taking a look at the University and state budget. I am not afraid to call the congressman or the governor and ask for funding.

6) Student Rights

Jim/Chelsea: Students are not being informed with what their rights are and we want them to be more informed, Victims Advocate has been taken away and also we would like to see more students voting.

Bernard/Kristen: In the beginning of every year students are given handbooks with all of their rights inside of it, it just needs more advertisement. We still have individuals on campus that can help students. Also we would like to see more students have a voice to decide what their rights are.

Pedro/Andrew: I plan on e-mailing every student once a month to inform them what USG has done in the past month and what we plan to do. If students have any problems or concerns they can bring their problem to me and I will help them. In the Fall I want to speak to the entire freshman class and tell them they are not alone and if they have problems to let them know that I will help.

7) BGSU/City Relations

Jim/Chelsea: Over 80 percent of the city is students and they are being left out of the important issues that the city is covering, such as zoning. We want to get property rezoned because students do not want to live in a four-bedroom house with only three people, it is too expensive. The party nuisance law is unfair. We want to work with student services to clear things up and find middle ground with the other 20 percent of the population. We want the city relations board to be more involved as well.

Bernard/Kristen: We have already started making positive steps this year. We have monthly meetings with the mayor and it’s a matter of keeping these relations going. We have better communication with the city this year than last year because we have been strong with the city.

Pedro/Andrew: I want to work with the Zoning and Party Nuisance laws. We are in college – there is no way to stop partying.

8) Student Health Center

Jim/Chelsea: This issue has not been well-researched – the budget is too tight to staff enough doctors and workers to keep the health center open on the weekend. If there were room on the budget we would like to take care of the issue, but for now it is a very expensive idea.

Bernard/Kristen: We are privileged to have Wood County Hospital nearby; it all comes down to money. Can we afford to open it and if we could, would we have to make cuts. I would love to see this happen, but I am sure some things would have to go, and right now financially we can’t.

Pedro/Andrew: We need the health center open on the weekends, people get sick on the weekends. Over 6,000 students live on campus and most do not have transportation. How can they get to the hospital if something were to happen? Care has to be provided and students deserve to receive care for what they are paying for.

9) Student Health Insurance

Jim/Chelsea: We want to make sure that the health insurance is going to be for the greater good of students and that it will benefit most of the students. We aren’t sure if the trustees took the correct channels in getting this new policy – student trustees were not allowed to vote – and we want to work with the state to see what we can do.

Bernard/Kristen: The University is making health insurance to students mandatory for good reasons, all students and teachers should be covered in case something happens. I want people to know that if you do not agree with what the health insurance on campus provides, they can choose another health insurance, as long as they are covered, and the University has made that clear

Pedro/Andrew: The mandatory plan should be basic, not everyone agrees or even needs what it may offer. Every student shouldn’t have to pay for what is offered, but if some people want to add on they should have that right. Also the amount is too much money; people on financial aid may not be able to afford it.

Other issues

Jim/Chelsea: Shuttle service: We want to run the shuttle to downtown BG especially during weekends, routes would be much more effective and we may even be able to get more advertisements on the bus because right now all the funding from shuttle service is being paid from parking tickets on campus

Parking: On-campus meters are too inconstant with time limits and changing, most only use quarters while off campus you can use dimes and nickels.

Recycling: Try to find more facilities on campus for recycling – the key is to make it easier for students to recycle, because if it’s easy, they will do it

Bernard/Kristen: Travel policy: The University is looking into having travel policies for students going on field trips, and we want the students to have input in these decisions and to make sure that the University is sharing the field trip opportunities.

Pedro/Andrew: MyBGSU: A lot of professors are still not using it and I would make it mandatory because it provides everything you need by just a click of a button. It improves learning.

Last comments

Jim/Chelsea: We want to focus on thinking outside of the box, and be more proactive and apply pressure to faculty and politicians.

Bernard/Kristen: I think whoever wins will do a great job. Being USG president is not easy because you have to put down your personal problems and fight for the students no matter how you feel about the situation. It all comes down to the students.

Pedro/Andrew: We are qualified candidates and have proven leadership skills. We want to be here and have the skills to perform the job, so vote for Pedro.

How to vote

Select the students who’ll represent you, the undergraduate, in the USG election online. It begins today at 8 a.m., lasting through Wednesday at 8 a.m. Winners will be announced on Thursday at 12:45 p.m. in front of the Union.

Look for the ‘election’ link on www.bgsu.edu Have your PO# ready to go, it’s needed to record all student votes online

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