COLUMN: When students speak up changes are made

My position on ASUSU Executive Council as academic senate president consists largely of acting as the student liaison between faculty and students. I have the opportunity to sit on various committees where I am the lone student representative; I also am privileged in working jointly with each college senator to address the concerns of each college separately. This job is important, and I need to make sure that I appropriately address the concerns of the students. I feel — for the most part — that I do the job to the best of my knowledge and strive to express all students’ concerns.

The biggest obstacle with this is that I do not know every student, nor do I have a way of knowing all their concerns and ideas regarding this university. One thing I feel the student body needs to know is they can be heard, and no matter who they are they can make a difference at USU. Many do not know that ASUSU is an acronym for Associated Students of Utah State University. We are here to address your concerns and to work for you. If it weren’t for the entire student body, members of student government would not be where they are.

This is what I want USU students to understand: their voices are more than capable of being heard. What they need to do is speak out and let the appropriate people know what they want to see change. There are so many avenues students can take to voice their concerns.  Some of our great resources are the senators for the colleges, the student advocate, student advisers, myself and many other students who know how to make a difference. A great example of this includes the new late hours in the library during dead week and finals week. Last year the library usually closed at midnight. During the last two weeks, this change prevented students who were last-minute cramming for their last finals to quit studying in an unfocused apartment or dorm. A student mentioned we should extend library hours to a later time so students might have more time to study. We took that concern seriously and made it happen.  As we all know, on those last weeks of the semester the library now stays open until 1 a.m.  This is just a minor example of what can happen when one student decides to make a change.

Now, I don’t mean for this to sound over the top, but I want you to think of the many ideas that you have had while attending USU. I’m sure there are many instances, such as walking around campus that you think to yourself, “I sure wish they did this differently,” or “Why don’t we have more things like this?” or even “Why have this as a requirement to graduate?” Questions need to be asked, concerns need to be voiced and changes need to be made. Without them we don’t grow as a university or as a student body. Now, don’t get me wrong, things are going great at this university. I love it, but there are many things that are overlooked where improvements need to be made. Next time you complain to your roommate about something you would like to see change, do something about it yourself. If you don’t, nothing will change.