As the latest addition of Orange men and women, the one factor you all share is your enrollment at Syracuse University. You hail from different regions of the country and the globe, are focusing on diverse areas of study and have personal goals for your undergraduate careers. But here, as students of SU, you all have at least one more thing in common: the right to vote.

Just as citizens of the United States are guaranteed the fundamental right to vote, students have the right to cast a ballot in the elections of the Student Association, the official student governing body of SU and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

It is imperative to let your voice be heard through whom you elect in state and national elections. The representatives are responsible for deciding how to allocate your taxes, establish components of your public education and create initiatives like paving the roads in your city.

Now as a citizen of the SU community, your voice matters here. Like the legislators who represent your home state in the Capitol, representatives of SA speak on behalf of your home college in Maxwell Auditorium.

This governing body, composed of students and headed by President Dylan Lustig, is responsible for allocating your student fee, making improvements to your academic and social experiences on campus and creating initiatives like funding buses to ferry you to local supermarkets.

A major part of SA’s responsibility is properly handling and allocating your student fee. This is a monetary amount you pay through tuition granted to SA to distribute to the many clubs, academic and social groups on campus.

Student groups must apply for access to these funds, and the SA Finance Board presents the delegations at semiannual budget meetings. It is important you are aware of this process to ensure the group you want to join, such as a fraternity or a publication, has the funds needed to function.

The job of your national representatives includes improving the standard of living in your home state. Similarly, your SA representatives work to advance the quality of life in your home college and on campus. Lustig, a junior, discussed this past spring running a campus-wide day of community service during this upcoming semester, and PJ Alampi, chair of the Student Life Committee and also a junior, said one major initiative this fall is a bike rental program open to all.

Though the plans and concepts the members of SA create do improve student life, representatives can be most efficient when made aware of problems that need fixing. That is where you come in.

Your SA representatives are accessible, a point Alampi greatly stressed. He said representatives can be reached by tweeting at the SA Twitter account, sending an email to any representative (whose email addresses can be found by clicking on the “representatives” tab on the sa.syr.edu homepage), or you can attend the weekly Monday meetings during the academic year at 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

You can even become a member of the SA community yourself by running for one of many representative positions. As a first-year student, you may have some fresh perspectives and valuable new ideas.

Being aware of the proceedings of your governmental body here at SU is just as important as keeping up with national issues. You are now a part of this community. It is your right to use your representatives to make the SU experience the best it can be.

Rachael Barillari is a junior political science and Middle Eastern studies major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at rebarill@syr.edu.

Published on August 21, 2012 at 2:56 pm