Richmond Lobbying Trip–Rachel Francis

On Thursday February 16^th 2012, six SGA students drove from JMU to Virginia’s capital city to lobby with Virginia State legislatures. Our agenda started early in the morning with us attending over seven meetings with VA Senators and delegates to discuss the lack of financial aid offered to college students.

We teamed up with the lobbyist group Virginia CAN (College Access Network) who were the leaders of the Virginia21 campaign. Their main purpose was to poll students asking them for the amount of debt they will have by the end of their college years. After a total of 10,000 signatures, with JMU contributing over 1,400 of them, the average Virginia college student’s post-graduate debt surmounted to over $100,000.

The experience was very exciting for me because I had never been involved with the state legislature at such a personal level. This trip was my first lobbying experience but was not for sophomore Legislative Action committee chair, Shevy Chaganti and fellow committee member, sophomore Ben Copper. Their previous experience helped newcomer lobbyist Courtney Herb, a freshman in JMU’s student government organization, as well as myself. We learned to personally connect with each Senator and delegate and to seek out our own local constituents while attempting to persuade them about our financial aid problems.

We ultimately wanted the VA education budget to get revamped in hopes of utilizing every penny the state gives college institutions. In comparison to previous Richmond lobbying trips, Shevy believes that this one was the most effective trips SGA has taken. Later on this semester, a larger group of SGA students will be representing James Madison University in Washington D.C.

 

Left to right: Rachel Francis, Courtney Herb, Taylor Vollman, Shevy Chaganti, Ben Copper and Brian Estep

Need Some Finals Study Tips?

As finals are fast approaching, it is easy to get overly stressed and confused on how to handle everything on your “to-do” list for the next week. As the freshman class officers we talked to our older SGA members and asked them how they survived finals over the past few years.

• “Try to “teach” your parents, friends or anyone who will listen about the class. Explaining the concepts will really help you find what you understand already and what you still need to study.” – Alicia Pettis
• “Don’t oversleep a final. Seriously. Go to sleep at a normal hour of the night before so you don’t sleep through the alarm.” -Liz Ramirez
• “Start studying at least 2 days in advance. It helps to feel confident in what you know.” -Nora Linkous
• “Never take an exam on an empty stomach. A bagel from Einstein’s is the perfect brain food to hold you over especially for an early morning exam time!” -Morgan Shaughnessy
• “Utilize Student Resources Centers like the Math and Science in Roop and the Writing and Communication in Wilson.” -Matt Klein
• “Download the “self control” app on your laptop. Ban Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc that could possibly distract you.” -Nikki Bologna
• “Drink lots of water and exercise. All the extra blood flow will help your memory.” -Alicia Pettis
• “Carrier and ECL are always great, but always crowded. Places Like TDU have extended hours.” -Collin Russell
• “Re-check the time and place of where your exam is the night before.” -Matt Klein

                                                                         

Just to add a few of our own,

• Seek advice from upperclassmen, just like we did. They are full of helpful tips to get you through this next week
• Don’t forget that there is free food all over campus late at night, keeping yourself healthily fed is important
• Libraries and Top Dog Starbucks are open 24 hours during finals week
• Just relax (UPB is even helping out with this by having a Relaxation Station on Friday. Check out the Facebook event page).

It’s important to keep yourself calm and focused, so turn off Facebook, get some rest, and hit the books. Start studying several days before your exam, and make a to-do list! Best of luck on your finals, and have a wonderful (and relaxing!) work-free break!

Much love,

Pat, Lauren, Kaitlin, and Rachel

Freshman Class Officers

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Get Your First-Year Writing Published!

ATTENTION FRESHMEN:

Have you written a paper you are really proud of in GWRTC 103? Want to have it published? Submit your essay to e-Vision and get noticed! e-Vision is an online publication of first-year writing. It showcases exceptional work composed by freshmen. Professors who teach GWRTC 103 use essays published by e-Vision as model writing for students.

Once you submit your piece, it will be read by a student editorial board. The 10-member board will select the pieces that are worthy of publication. After the essays are selected, the editors will work with the writers to finalize the essays for publication. Last year, e-Vision published 10 essays. Essays that are selected represent a wide variety of subjects and styles of writing. If you feel like your work deserves to get published, then send it as an attachment to evision@jmu.edu. For more information about e-Vision, follow this link.

Get published. Get an audience. Get read. Share your good writing with the world. Let it prompt thought, spark discussion, and inspire more good writing.

5 Things to Know for Freshman Year

Hey everyone! With FrOG week and the Fall Semester fast-approaching, I thought I would share just a few things I wish I knew before my freshman year at JMU that make first-year life a little more simple…

1. Get Involved- The best way to meet people and find something you love is to branch out and try as many new things that interest you as possible. By going to Student ORG night* you can find out about all these organizations and clubs from the members that participate in them. THe SGA will have it’s own section too so you can find out what positions you can run for.  JMU has over 350 organizations including SGA, club sports, Greek life, or the French Club. There is definitely a place for you!
2. Card Services- Card services (located in Warren) is closed on the weekends which is really unfortunate considering people lose their JAC cards all the time! The best advice would be to never lose your JAC card but come on, it’s bound to happen! If you lose your JAC over the weekend, before contemplating starving without those 4 punches Saturday and Sunday, know that at Ehall and Dhall there are forms to fill out that allow you to punch. It’s basically an honor system verifying that you are, in fact, you! While we are on the subject, memorize your JAC card number, it makes a ton of things easier.
3. Weather Preparation- Invest in a good pair of rain boots and a decent rain jacket! The ‘Burg’s weather has been known to change just about every ten minutes, one second it will be semi-hurricane weather to so bright and sunny you’ll wonder if you imagined that storm. Also, Harrisonburg is definitely colder than you think (especially at 8ams) so bring plenty of layers and a winter coat, or maybe one of those cool-hipster animal hats people where. Just sayin’.
4. UREC- James Madison’s University Recreation Center is one of the best facilities on campus. There is literally something for everyone from the Racquetball and basketball courts, rock climbing wall, group fitness classes, track, and lobby for some quiet studying time when the libraries are full. The best little kept secret is the Sauna in the Aquatics Center which is great for thinking and sweating out all gross stuff in your system! Exercise releases endorphins, endorphins make you happy and happy people go to JMU and have a well-balanced mind!
5. Libraries- We have two libraries, Carrier and East Campus Library or more popularly known as “ECL.” They will become your best friends next year. Fixed with coffee shops, printers, help desks, and study rooms, the libraries are an incredible way to focus or just get away from roommate stress and lose yourself in schoolwork! Finally, group studying can really help you prepare for exams and you can rent out study rooms online for each library to ensure your study group or GCOM group has an area to prepare!

You’ve already made the choice to go to the best school on EARTH, but now it’s up to you to make your college years a fulfilling experience.

Hopefully some of these tips help you in your transition from your hometown to your home at JMU. And remember if you never try, you’ll never know!

-Morgan Shaughnessy, Contingency Liaison, @MorganShau

*Check back for dates and times of Student Org Night if you are interested