As their year on the Associated Student Government Executive Board comes to a close, the four officers elected to serve Northwestern’s student body last spring said they have “changed the tone” of ASG.

Although not every goal on each of their platforms has been accomplished, the officers – President Adam Humann, Executive Vice President Jordan Heinz, Student Services Vice President Laura Ellis and Academic Vice President Sameer Gafoor – said they have worked for the general good of NU’s community by establishing better relations with administrators and a greater openness with student organizations.

Humann: More than just paddleboats

Humann, a Weinberg senior, said the Executive Board is “still working hard even though the term is ending.” He said he hopes to put the finishing touches on a plan for corporate sponsorship of tailgates at football games and add more students to faculty search committees after his term ends.

When looking back on his time as president, Humann said he is “most proud of where the organization is now compared to in the past.”

After receiving 65 percent of the vote in last year’s election, Humann pledged to improve the ASG-administration relationship, help build community, revitalize the Lakefill and register students to vote in the presidential and Evanston municipal elections.

Humann said he realizes now that he could have put together a better platform.

“I don’t think my platform was very good last year,” he said. “If you run on an ambitious platform, you will be limited on what you can accomplish because a lot of things that come up require immediate attention.”

Humann also said he resents being labeled the “paddleboat candidate,” a reference to his goal to bring paddleboats, an amphitheater and a skating rink to the Lakefill.

“The characterization of me as the ‘paddleboat candidate’ might have been eye candy but was not the most substantive part of my platform,” he said.

Humann said the paddleboat idea will not happen because zoning ordinances that apply to the area would have to be altered. But he said he hopes proposals for the amphitheater will be discussed next quarter.

Calling the paddleboat-idea failure the “most frustrating aspect of my presidency,” Humann said he believes he has been successful in building community at NU.

Citing his work to bring tailgates back to campus as “a major policy reversal for the senior class,” Humann also said he wanted to build coalitions between diverse student groups.

“I have tried to be an advocate for minority groups and represent them well,” he said. “They are the groups that are under-represented and need the most help from ASG.”

But Tiffany Berry, a For Members Only Executive Board member, said Humann “hasn’t actively come to us unless there is a problem.”

“I know Adam has good intentions,” said Berry, a Weinberg sophomore. “But most of the things on his platform relating to minorities I haven’t seen happen. I am very upset that we have yet to see ASG’s promises (fulfilled) after everyone was interested in the minority perspective at election time.”

Humann also has tried to improve ASG’s relationship with administrators through more frequent meetings with University President Henry Bienen and other administrators.

Interim Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis said his relationship with ASG officers was “one of the highlights” of his year.

“Overall I would give this year’s officers high marks,” he said. “They have been real assertive on student issues but have gone about it in a reasonable way by being willing to work on details.”

Banis also said the meetings have produced tangible results because of the officers’ ability to set long-term objectives, such as working on Norris University Center renovations.

Having helped craft the resolution in support of the Norris renovations, Humann said administrators will make it a priority and that he would be surprised if the project is not started within three to four years.

“It’s important to show support for this project,” he said. “I hope I have conveyed the significance of Norris renovations to both the administration and the student body.”

Heinz: A working relationship

Responsible for overseeing student groups, Heinz said his goal during last year’s election was to not derecognize any student organizations during their annual reviews.

Although five B-status groups were derecognized last week, Heinz said the decision was “mutual” between the groups and his executive committee. Two of the groups chose to dissolve entirely.

Heinz said his success with annual review is part of a complete change in how the executive vice president operates.

“I tried to work along with groups to make changes that matter to them,” said Heinz, an Education junior. “The position has changed from being aligned with the administration to being a lobbying force for student groups.”

Because of this new relationship with student groups, Heinz said he has accomplished his goals for the year.

“The relationship between student groups and the executive vice president has improved in a lot of concrete ways,” he said.

In his platform, Heinz said he wanted to install television monitors in dining halls to advertise student group programming. But the proposal was nixed as advertising on Web sites, such as Planet Purple, became more cost-effective.

Throughout the year, Heinz also worked to allow student groups to bring $35 of food into Norris, which was previously against guidelines.

Norris University Center Director Bill Johnston said the bill was an example of compromise.

“Overall, sometimes we have different agendas, but it hasn’t prohibited us from making compromises that help everyone,” he said.

Johnston also agreed with Banis that ASG has had a positive year.

“ASG managed to get their agenda accomplished without becoming pawns of the administration,” he said. “This has been a really solid group of people who have taken on important issues to students. The system has worked the way it is supposed to.”

The executive committee also has lowered costs of renting venues such as Patten Gym and is working to improve Shanley Pavilion.

Ellis: Learning about Leadership

Weinberg junior Laura Ellis said she has learned more about leadership than she “ever could have imagined” through her role as student services vice president.

Running unopposed in the election, Ellis’ platform called for establishing an online light map to promote campus safety, helping students get free passes to Chicago museums and holding an end-of-the-year flea market.

The online light map was set up during Spring Quarter, and Ellis said there will soon be a direct link to the site on ASG’s HereAndNow Web site (www.hereandnow.northwestern.edu).

“One of the biggest problems on this campus is safety,” she said. “We tried to identify every area we could on the map for students to see the lighting on campus.”

Ellis also said she hopes museum passes will be available next quarter, but she said she wishes she had begun work on the project earlier.

The proposed flea market never occurred because of a lack of student interest.

“The flea market was a great idea, but there wasn’t enough interest,” Ellis said. “People like buying things at the beginning of the year when they come back to school.”

Ellis also spent her time trying to eliminate the 5-cent library printing fees. She said the library should have consulted students before they instituted the 5-cent fees Fall Quarter.

“That was my first impression of the administration, and it didn’t set a very good tone for the year,” she said. “But I’m optimistic that soon we will be able to make a compromise to set a limit of copies that students can make for free.”

But Ellis said her other project, working to open and later to improve Willie’s Too, gave her the opposite impression of administration.

“Working to improve Willie’s Too was the easiest thing in the world,” she said. “Everyone was so cooperative and willing to work with my committee to (explore) the food options for students.”

Gafoor: The Student
Connection

Also winning his position unopposed, Gafoor said he used the election to talk to students about their concerns.

“An election is not just to find the best candidate, but to find issues that are important to students,” he said. “I used being unopposed as a vehicle to talk to students, and they responded well to that.”

Gafoor received 88 percent of the vote, the highest percentage a candidate has received since 1993. He then attempted to meet the goals of his platform, including the improvement of the study abroad program and the creation of a Latin American studies department.

Gafoor said the next ASG Academic Committee should continue to improve students’ study abroad options.

“Study abroad was a concern because some programs had been cut and others were ambiguous,” he said. “It was unclear if some programs were accredited by NU or approved. I hope we have established channels with the study abroad office to keep the communication lines open regarding programs.”

After the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences did not permanently hire visiting Prof. Christopher Larkosh last spring, Gafoor also tried to build a stronger base for the Latin American study program. Since then, the academic committee has been working to expand the program into a department.

Alianza Sen. Rachel Lopez, who is leading the efforts to establish the department, said Gafoor has been a good advising source.

“Sameer has tried to keep a fair mind,” said Lopez, a Weinberg junior. “He never tells us what we should do but gives both arguments for what we could do. This is definitely one of his strong points.”

Gafoor said efforts to establish the department have moved forward.

“I know not everyone is pleased, but the program is definitely headed in the right direction,” he said.

The part of Gafoor’s term that generated the most controversy was students’ surprise at having only a two-day Reading Week period this quarter. Gafoor said reading periods need to be standardized.

“We have worked with Weinberg so they can re-evaluate their calendar policy,” he said. “But no matter the case, students should have known in advance that they would only have two days this quarter.”

Gafoor also had a goal of cooperating with Information Technology to improve CAESAR. The academic committee has moved to implement a degree auditing system available next year on CAESAR. Other improvements, such as a weekly planner, already have appeared on the site.

Gafoor said degree auditing is the biggest thing the committee has worked toward.

“If students remember anything, I hope it is this,” he said. “The students really pushed for it and needed it, and it soon will become a reality.”