In May I took office as your Student Body President. It was a very exciting time for not only myself, but also for my Vice President and Chief of Staff. We came to office with a dream. A dream of great achievements, great victories and a greater unity within our Student Body. We have worked diligently towards these ends, and are continually driven to achieve as much as possible for the Student Body while we are in office. We take our jobs seriously, knowing that many people depend on us. Since I have taken office as President, I have not worked less than a 40 hour week. The Vice President and Chief of Staff have worked just as hard, and all of us with a full class load. What drives the Vice President, Chief of Staff and I to strive so hard to accomplish so much? In light of t senseless opposition we now face, I am now starting to wonder that myself. I believe though, it is because it is what we have always enjoyed doing ; that is helping students, doing for others and knowing that maybe , just maybe we can make a difference by the time our term is up.

Kim Clemens and Scott Pfeiffer, my Vice President and Chief of Staff respectively, are both proven student leaders. Last year Kim was the Executive Chairperson of the Student Programming Council and Scott was President of the Inter-Greek Council. Both positions involved managing an office, staff and relatively large budgets ($120,000 and $20,000) respectively). Kim has also served as a Student Life Advisor and Scott has served as a Student Senator. I have been extremely involved since I came to SIU in 1991. In my professional fraternity I have held office as treasurer and president. In the Undergraduate Student Government, I was a student senator, chairperson pro-temp (third officer in line to the president), and chairperson of the Book Exchange Committee. Last year I was inducted into the USG Hall of Fame and the Book Exchange was awarded Committee of the Year.

I Feel with the combined leadership experience, office management experience and years of selfless sacrifice that have been given by the vice president, chief of staff and myself, the student senate and the student body should have full confidence in our ability to manage an office and a budget. Recently, we have spent a small amount of money to improve our office environment. This is nothing new, in fact every year money is spent to make our office more efficient and more professional. Why this time has turned into the political issue it has can only be attributed to personal politics within our senate and an unethical, unprofessional and unchecked student newspaper.

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Office equipment for USG is a badly needed investment that will help us get out of the stone age and into the 21st century. We need to be able to do business as professionally and efficiently as possible to best serve the diverse needs of an ever changing student population. If we are to effectively advocate on behalf of ourselves as students, there are two areas which USG must improve:The communication of information and the communication of ideas. The USG office is quickly becoming less competitive with those who are advocating against students. USG needs instant access to E-mail and the World Wide Web. We need to be able to share our information within our office and with the public electronically. We need to be able to hear from our constituency quickly and on-line. If we do not get with it, (new technology) we will be left behind.

The truth behind the controversy is this:YES, we did buy office supplies and equipment and YES it was with our allocated amount of student money. But our expenditures have not been frivolous nor wasteful. They are simply the costs associated with running a professional office in a university environment. We have not spent anything out of line with past USG administrations. This negative media attention has been an intentional assault on the good image of USG. The only thing frivolous or wasteful about this whole situation has been the unwarranted media attention and the time spent reading it.

There are many stories the general public will never hear regarding their student government. Stories like how Commissioner Dan Piper, Senator Jemal Powell and I wrote and sponsored a resolution to oppose the cuts in Amtrak service for SIU, EIU and U of I. We sent this resolution to the governor and he allocated money to keep full Amtrak service for this year. While not a totally controversial issue, students deserved to hear accurate reporting on this issue. They did not get it. In fact they heard nothing about this victory which was won by the student government. USG also did not receive proper coverage by the Daily Egyptian on President Clinton’s visit. As student body president, I was the first to know about the proposed presidential visit from USSA, our lobby group in Washington D.C. We helped to get President Clinton by faxing all the most recent news clipping on financial aid to Washington D.C. We worked long and hard to make sure this event was a success. Coverage of the Late Nite Programming Committee has also been poor. This committee that I originated with the help of President Guyon provides late night entertainment for underage students. In less that one month from conception we had gathered funds for these events from the city, the university community and different student groups including USG. While not controversial issues, student deserve to know what is really going on.

Everyday the Undergraduate Student Government advocate for student in the city council, in state and federal government, in the university administration and on more than 40 campus and city-wide committees. We gladly do this without recognition, but feel the students should know without doubt that their student government is fighting for them. We feel the real stories are not getting out, and instead pseudo controversy and other misinformation is filling our campus newspaper. At USG, our only discouragement is receiving a bad rap for trying our best. We should not be denied credit for our good work in order to further the journalistic careers of reporters of reporters who are looking for that big story that will get them that big job after college. The students of SIUC deserve to know the truth., and the truth is that the only controversy here is whether the Daily Egyptian, as the only source for student news on campus, will start to professionally, accurately, and ethically report their stories.

At USG we are tired of being of being the journalistic treadmill aspiring DE reporters used to fabricate their juiciest stories. We understand that our Daily Egyptian reporters are going through a learning process and as always we will continue to work with them to make sure the Student Body is as informed as possible. USG encourages the Daily Egyptian to start reporting and editorializing accurately, ethically and truthfully. We encourage the Daily Egyptian to make sure both sides of the story are told, and that they work towards a true balance in their reporting. Students with questions are encouraged to call USG direct. Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Aviation Management and Business Major