UOSA president plans new direction

By Daniela McCormick

The Undergraduate Oklahoma Student Association president and vice president share a vision to create a positive relationship with Oklahoma U. students, and since their inauguration last spring, they’ve worked to reconnect with the students they represent.

UOSA President Franz Zenteno said he spent the summer learning how the organization works.

“For the past two years I’ve been involved in UOSA, but as a student body president, you are in charge of everything, and I’ve never had that chance before,” said Zenteno, international studies senior.

He said the first thing he did after being elected was met with the new leadership.

“We all agreed on the importance knowing each other well because we’ll be working closely with each other,” Zenteno said.

Zenteno said he came in strong with his platform and projects, but he knows that UOSA may be unaware of existing student needs. He said he wants to be close with the student body, and he thinks it’s healthy when students question UOSA.

“I don’t think we have to be scared of that,” Zenteno said. “I think the better criticism we can get, the better we can be later. I think one of the mistakes that I saw in UOSA last year was whenever the student body was criticizing UOSA, UOSA closed its door.”

Zenteno said the battle between student government and the student body should no longer happen. He said he no longer wants students to be disappointed in UOSA.

Involvement
Zenteno said both he and UOSA Vice President Cory Lloyd would like to attend other student organizations’ meetings.

He said so far he has attended freshman convocation and the International Student Umbrella organization’s first meeting.

One of Zenteno’s first goals, he said, is to stop by the organizations he was able to talk to during the campaign last spring.

“It’s time for us to go and say, ‘Hey guys, we’ve now got elected. What can we do for you?’”

Lloyd said UOSA is not only working on UOSA-specific projects, but also working on tying UOSA goals with student organizations’ goals through feedback.

Lloyd said UOSA will partner with other organizations to help improve student life and bring people together.

Keeping students Informed
UOSA will write a daily blog to keep students up-to-date about UOSA’s plans.

Zenteno said students will be able to read information and the opinions of his representatives. Students will also be able to give feedback and opinion through comments.

“This is something unique, and we’re telling you we want to be close to the average OU student,” Zenteno said. “We run this campaign with a vision.”

Laptop check out
“We have the laptop check-out program we want to initiate, UOSA provides around 30 laptops students can check out for two days, and we want to increase that number to at least 100. To execute this, we will get sponsorship from companies that are in the city,” Zenteno said.

Zenteno said he’s going to go to companies already in Norman and ask for laptop donations. He said these laptops would provide publicity for the company as well as laptops for OU students without that resource.

Full-time job
Zenteno said working in UOSA is more than a full time job. He said he works 40 plus hours a week and is constantly in contact with people even if he is at home. He said despite the long hours, he finds UOSA to be a great way to enact a vision and leave a legacy for the students.

“Coming as an international student, I never expected to become student body president at this university,” Zenteno said, “So, the reason why we run is to say thank you for that great opportunity we got getting involved in the academic life we have here.”

Lloyd said working in UOSA is not only hard work, but also fun. He said he enjoys meeting new people and that he wants to be transparent about UOSA’s business. Lloyd said the students should keep UOSA accountable and not be afraid to step into their office. Lloyd plans on keeping the office stocked with drinks and food so students can feel at home and be comfortable with coming in and sharing their thoughts.

“We have our platform which is what we’re working on, but if there’s something that comes up throughout the year that is more important. Then you know our platform issues may need to take a backseat to work on things we can get to,” Lloyd said.

Government structure
UOSA is made up of four branches: the executive, congressional, judicial, and the programming board.

Zenteno is a part of the executive branch, which creates the bills that are sent to Congress who decides to pass or not pass. Then the programming board that the Campus Activities Council plays a big part in is the most tangible branch for students to see.

The judiciary is a very important part of UOSA because it provides a neutrality and stability.

“If the judicial branch doesn’t exist then UOSA doesn’t make sense because it’s going to be unstable,” Zenteno said.

All the branches are equally important in order that UOSA can achieve its goals, he said.

Zenteno said leadership conferences play a role in strengthening the UOSA structure which, in his opinion, is the strongest among the Big 12 schools.

Zenteno said unlike past governments, he hopes to take all the main branch representatives to future conferences so they are up-to-date on all higher education issues.

Student expectations
Some OU students-new and returning-shared their opinion about UOSA and what they expect for the new year. Sociology junior Cindy Coffin said she expects student government will accomplish its platform goals.

“I expect student government to interact with all students and get students involved, greeks and non-greeks,” Coffin said.

Coffin said she hopes UOSA will connect with graduates students as well.

Zoology sophomore AJ Berepele said he expects UOSA to set a community example. He said he also expects to see results from Zenteno and Lloyd when it comes to involving exchange students.

PROGRESS AND FUTURE GOALS:

What UOSA has changed this summer:
» Sarkeys Lot: Parking will now be split 50/50 between faculty and students.

What projects UOSA will launch soon:
» UOSA will create blog to update students on student government news
» UOSA will fully update the official UOSA website and student organizations page.
» Possibly UOSA will be create to SafeRide Vouchers which will allow students to call any Norman taxi service.
» UOSA will increase supplies for the laptop rental service from 50 laptops to 100 laptops through sponsorships.

Read more here: http://oudaily.com/news/2010/aug/23/uosa-president-plans-new-direction/
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