Dear UNA Community,

Please click to watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyo-qRukpXw&list=UU5JaVLrD4CvhSPoj41RpKbQ&index=1&feature=plcp

The SGA Sponsored Florence City Mayoral Debate is scheduled for Monday April 16, 2012 at 6pm in the GUC Performance center. This is an opportunity to hear from the three candidates running for the position of mayor of Florence. I encourage everyone on campus to attend this event. I would also ask that the faculty members offer incentives for their students to attend this SGA sponsored event.

The SGA-UPC will be sponsoring the 2012 Relay for life Kick off today at the Amphitheater from 6pm to 10pm. This event will feature various individuals sharing their courageous stories of battling cancer. we ask that the entire campus join us to raise awareness. There will be plenty of free food and T shirts.

Last week the SGA Senate passed a resolution to allocate the sum of $5,250 from the student Recreational Fee Charge Account for the Tunnel of Oppression to the Student Multicultural Advisory Committee. The Tunnel of Oppression is an interactive event that highlights contemporary issues of oppression. It is designed to introduce participants to the concepts of oppression, privilege, and power. Participants are guided through a series of scenes that aim to educate and challenge them to think more deeply about issues of oppression. I have signed this resolution and will be forwarding for action.

The Senate also passed a resolution to remove the $1 per credit hour on the recreation fee for the 2012-2013 year, that the SGA voted to keep for this academic. After much thought and consultation, I have decided that I will not sign the resolution into law and therefore veto it. I will release an official statement on why I made that decision to the Senate at its meeting this Thursday. In the mean time, I will be willing to address any questions or concerns on this matter.

The Senate also voted to allocate the sum of $150 to help the UNA faceless International raise awareness for the KONY 2012 campaign. This sum has also been matched by our Freshman Forum Branch, so SGA as a whole will be giving $300 towards this cause.

The SGA officer transition has been scheduled for April 26, 2012. This will be when the newly elected SGA officers will be sworn in and take office.

Have a Great Week and ROARLIONS!

Sincerely,

Uchenna Ralph Akalonu

SGA President

Dear UNA Community,
 

Please click to watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1jN_EjF9HY&list=UU5JaVLrD4CvhSPoj41RpKbQ&index=1&feature=plcp

On March 22, 2012, the Student Government Association Senate passed two resolutions that demonstrate in many ways an increased level of activism and engagement on a variety of issues. The first resolution was in support of a UNA food pantry that was proposed by a UNA student Julia Henderson. This proposal will ensure that through volunteer efforts, there will be a place where students who are struggling with increasing costs of daily needs can request and get help with food items. The Resolution passed by the SGA Senate ensures that the Student Government Association at UNA fully supports this initiative. The second resolution passed by the SGA Senate was in support of the movement that developed last month titled "KONY 2012". Through the legislation, the SGA will support the UNA Chapter of Faceless International to bring awareness on campus on issues that relate to child slavery, sexual slavery, child soldiers, and the movement to capture a notorious African warlord (Joseph Kony) and have him tried for the atrocities committed in Central Africa. The SGA through the resolution of support, is committed to helping UNA Faceless International raise awareness on these issues.

The SGA is planning to host the 2012 Florence City Mayoral Debate on Monday April 16, 2012 in the Performance Center at 6pm. This debate will feature the three candidates running for the position of Mayor of Florence and a panelist that will ask questions on a range of topics. The SGA has set up a form where individuals can anonymously send in questions they would like the candidates to answer. To submit your questions, please follow the link to do so https://orgsync.com/41420/forms/show/48097. We ask that everyone try to submit at least one question for the debate.

Part of the the SGA's long term goals is to develop a recycling initiative on campus. We have been working with the University, and the Florence Recycling Center to make that happen. The Florence Recycling center was able to get a grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to fund the necessary equipment that would enable the university recycle better. These equipments that were funded through this grant will ensure that there are recycling bins in all areas of campus and they will be arriving to campus this week. In the coming days, we will be promoting this initiative to ensure that students, and all departments participate in the recycling initiative. If your department or office would like to request for a recycle bin to be delivered, please fill out his form https://orgsync.com/41420/forms/show/46935

Have you registered for the SGA Fountain 5K yet? Well if not, please follow the link https://orgsync.com/41420/forms/show/44329 to register and run in the 5K. By doing so, you will be donating to the SGA endowed scholarship fund to raise the necessary funds for a student leadership scholarship at UNA.

 

The SGA Freshman Forum will be having its "Rave to Raise" event this Thursday April 5, 2012 in the GUC Performance Center at 7pm. There will be free T-shirts, free Glow Bracelets, prizes at the end of the rave, and all proceeds from this event will go to the various philanthropies represented at the event.

The Student Government is happy to announce that our programming branch (UPC) will be hosting the 2012 Spring Concert featuring J COLE and Chase N. Cashe as part of the campus consciousness tour on Tuesday May 1, 2012. Join your SGA UPC to celebrate before finals begin. The concert will be at the Flowers Hall on the University of North Alabama campus.

J.Cole tickets will be:
FREE for students (one per Mane Card)
$20 for the public in advance
$25 at the door

FREE STUDENT TICKETS will be available starting WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 at 10AM in the GUC.
**THE FIRST 100 STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE A FONT-LINE TICKET** (These students will be ushered to the front of the line to have the opportunity to stand FRONT ROW at the concert! All other tickets are general admission.)

General public tickets can be purchased at the UNA Box Office online at http://www.una.edu/boxoffice

Look for activities and special performances around campus all day as part of the Campus Consciousness Tour.

For more info on the tour, activities and sponsors, visit here - http://www.reverb.org/project/CCT/2012_Spring/

Have a Great Week and ROARLIONS!

Sincerely,

Uchenna Ralph Akalonu
SGA President
 

Dear UNA Community,

The video above highlights SGA's commitment in establishing an Endowed Scholarship for students. If you would like to donate please follow the link https://alumni.una.edu/sga or if you would like to donate by running in the SGA Fountain 5k, please follow this link to register http://una.orgsync.com/org/unasga/5Krun . We want to see support from everyone at this University, no amount is too small. So please support SGA in accomplishing this goal.

Part of the top five long term goals for the SGA is advocating for pedestrian safety on Pine Street. We have been in discussions with the University Police to figure out a way to solve some of the issues involving safety of students who park and/or cross the street to campus. One of the options that we were presented with was to remove the parking spaces on Pine Street as a means of better improving the safety of both drivers and pedestrians. Last week Thursday, the SGA Senate voted to recommend to the University Police keep the spaces for students who park there. This vote by the SGA Senate was partly due to the fact that Senators did not feel that removing the parking spaces will help solve the problem of safety on the street. The SGA is still committed to working with the University Police and the city to find out ways in which we can make that section of Pine Street safer for both drivers and pedestrians. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact me or any of the SGA officers.

SGA will be taking UNA students to Montgomery for Higher Education Day on Thursday, March 1st. UNA students have the opportunity to lobby legislatures on the importance of funding colleges and universities. Contact an SGA Senator to sign up!

Schedule - March 1st

5:45 a.m. - Meet in Communications Parking Lot (breakfast provided)

6:00 a.m. - Depart for Montgomery on Charter Bus

11:00 a.m. - Rally Begins

12:00 p.m. - BBQ Lunch provided

6:00 p.m. - Estimated time of arrival back to UNA
If you have any questions, concerns or issues please do not hesitate to contact any of the SGA members. We are committed to serving and advocating for the student body.

Thank you for your time. Have a Great Week. ROARLIONS

Sincerely,

Uchenna Ralph Akalonu
SGA President

SGA will be taking UNA students to Montgomery for Higher Education Day on Thursday, March 1st.  UNA students have the opportunity to lobby legislatures on the importance of funding colleges and universities.  Contact a SGA Senator to sign up! 

Schedule - March 1st

5:45 a.m.  - Meet in Communications Parking Lot (breakfast provided)

6:00 a.m. - Depart for Montgomery on Charter Bus

11:00 a.m. - Rally Begins

12:00 p.m. - BBQ Lunch provided

6:00 p.m. - Estimated time of arrival back to UNA

Dear UNA Community,

This past week, the Senate Chairwoman for Legislative Affairs (Mary Francis Wilson), the SGA Freshman Forum Leader (Jordan Summerford) and I had the opportunity to represent the SGA and UNA in Montgomery. The University Student Presidents Council, which is a coalition of all the SGA Presidents in the 13 publicly funded institutions, and the Higher Education Partnership organized a meeting with Kay Ivey (Lt. Governor), Rep. Mike Hubbard (Speaker of the House of Representatives), Senator Brewbaker (Chair of the education committee), and Senator Figures (newly elected minority leader of the Senate). The focus of the meeting was to determine what plans the new republican super majority has towards Higher Education in the state. We were informed that due to the short fall in the General Budget of the state and the rolling reserve legislation passed last year, the Higher Education budget would be lower this year. We also made inquiries as to the impact the new charter school legislation would have on Higher Education and we were promised that there will be no negative impact. In all, the SGA leadership in the state spoke with one voice. Our mission was to relay to the state leadership that Higher Education is vital to the economy of the state and if adequate funds are provided to public institutions, its graduates will be armed with the necessary skills to grow the state economy. As SGA gears up to take students to rally in Montgomery, AL on Thursday March 1st as part of Higher Education day, We ask for the support of everyone in the UNA Community in this effort.

The food services committee, a part of Shared Governance, met this past Friday, February 10, 2012. The committee was started as an initiative by the SGA for students, faculty and staff to make recommendations on our food services here on campus. As SGA President, I serve on this committee with other members of SGA to give valuable student input on how we can support Sodexo in providing the best food options for students. We had a chance to tour the food services facilities to have a better understanding on the day to day operations and challenges they face. I am confident that with the help of this committee on campus, valuable feedback would be shared in order to meet the needs of the UNA Community.

In an effort to ensure transparency in the SGA, we have begun a gradual process of uploading all budgets and expenditures conducted by the SGA (Senate & UPC). I believe that as the SGA serves the students, it should also be transparent in the way we spend the money allocated to us. This would give students the ability to keep track of how their student activity fees are being spent. I encourage students to visit our website at http://una.orgsync.com/org/unasga/budgets as we update the information.

SGA is committed to representing the interests of students at UNA. We will always make an effort to be a Government that is closest to the people it serves. Follow us on twitter and Facebook to view discussion topics, trending legislation, etc. and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact any of the members of SGA. Let us know how we can be of service to you.

Thank you and Have a Great Week

ROARLIONS...!

Sincerely,

Uchenna Ralph Akalonu

SGA President

SGA made news on foursquare with its Recycling Program. Follow the link to view http://blog.foursquare.com/2012/02/09/how-colleges-make-the-world-better-with-foursquare/

SGA President Akalonu has announced that he will be nominating Heath McCullough to fill the last Associate Justice Position on the Judicial Branch. Nomination is pending Senate confirmation.