From the president

As the second half of the fall semester kicks into gear, the SGA remains deeply involved in the issues that matter to you.

Free Music for Students: At the Senate meeting Monday, Oct. 23, Project RUCKUS gave an illuminating presentation on their proposal to give free media downloading to all students. Forget TIVO and Napster; RUCKUS will include music, selected movie and television show downloads without spyware, adware or pop-ups. The plan is to bring to VCU the social network and file-sharing program that has been highly successful at universities all over the nation. The Senate unanimously approved Project RUCKUS and hopes to have it approved by the university and ready to be implemented by the beginning of the spring semester!

Academic Bill of Rights: For too long students have been helpless in classes with bad teachers and unfair exams. We’ve all been through some of these classes where the average exam scores bordered around 40 percent. How much learning is actually going on? And if the mean test scores are so low, is it the students’ fault? The SGA wants to empower students to change these situations. We want to make sure the student voice is always heard so that we can improve the quality of instruction at VCU. The time has come to us as students to declare what we believe should be considered a necessary component of our tuition money. The SGA will be drafting an academic Bill of Rights. This Bill of Rights will spell what you can do to give your input in those classes where the average test score is an F. The Bill of Rights will give students options in how to approach both the professor and the administration about making changes in the instruction. For more information regarding the student Bill of Rights, or if you have any suggestions for the content, e-mail Vice President Megan Shandelson at sgavicepres@vcu.edu.

Dining Services: The SGA is working together to bring more meal exchange options to students. Currently, VCU students on meal plans may use their meal swipes for items at the following locations: Subway, Alpine Bagel, Bene Pizza and all the Park Place locations in the Commons, Quizno’s in the bookstore, Skull and Crossbones, and Richmond Grill. Sbarro in the bottom of Shafer Court Dining Center will soon be renovated into something bigger and better, so there are currently no meal swipes available there. As for the Java 901 in the library, there are plans to renovate this into a regular Starbucks. The SGA’s goal is to increase the options students have for dining, especially for students with meal plans, so they are not always forced to eat at Shafer.

While we’re on the subject of food, I thought I’d let you in on the future plans for Dining Services expansion. Next semester, a Boar’s Head will be opening on the Medical Center campus. This restaurant will feature online ordering, a first for VCU. And in the soon-to-be built residence hall across Belvedere Street, there are plans to have a full-service Chili’s Restaurant. This will be the first ever sit-down restaurant in a residence hall, not only for VCU, but for the nation. In the new residence hall, there will also be a grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables and packaged snacks.

Feel free to contact me anytime with your ideas, questions or concerns at sgapresident@vcu.edu. Thanks!