Arnold Lane

My fellow Chargers, my name is Arnold M. Lane, Jr. and I aspire to represent you all as the President of the Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA). For those of you who are unfamiliar with who I am, I am a student-athlete studying Psychology with minors in Sociology and Black Studies, I will be a senior in the fall of 2013, and I serve as a member of the Men’s Cross Country / Track and Field Team. The USGA is a student-run body of government that meets weekly to discuss and address student concerns and allocate funds for the University’s student groups.

Reflecting on my experience at UNH, I can say I have done it all. I have proudly served as the USGA Chief of Senate, USGA Senator, President of the UNH Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), President and Treasurer of the Black Student Union (BSU), Treasurer of the Caribbean Student Association (CSA), and the Sergeant at Arms of the UNH Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). As I enter my final year at the University I have made the decision to run for USGA President.

My involvement on campus has shaped me into the individual that I am today, and while some of you may not even know me, chances are we have crossed paths at least once during our tenure here. My desire to serve the student body stems from my willingness to want to change the nature and culture of this University. We hold a rich diversity here, unlike most colleges and universities. I stand proud of that fact and would like to enhance it to make it even better.

My experiences over the past few years have taught me leadership, respect, patience, and reliability traits that would be crucial for this important role. My hope is to change the face of this organization and bring the campus together as a whole. There appears to be a significant divide and lack of communication between the University’s students, student groups, Department offices, and Administration. This is something I would like to change. The UNH experience should foster a more spirited and proud community. When I see lack of interest in Homecoming and Spring Weekend events, heated social media discussion regarding school policies, and spur of the moment Administrative decisions, I take notice. Communication is key in any organization, and lines should be open.

My goals for the USGA include, bringing together the campus community, promoting diversity and embracing the different walks of life each of our students represent, condensing the various USGA documents and making them more cohesive, shifting towards a more sustainable process when submitting forms and documents, pushing for an increase in Educational Programming for the student body, bringing prominent guest lecturers and speakers to the University for meetings and seminars, fostering more community engagement in the West Haven and New Haven areas, and making the University Experience more memorable.

If you believe in my cause and my leadership abilities please stand with me when the time comes. I appreciate your support, VOTE ARNOLD LANE FOR USGA PRESIDENT…Bridging the gap one step at a time.

Best Wishes,

Arnold

Zani Imetovski

Hello everyone! My name is Zani Imetovski and I am running for USGA President. I am a junior here at the Univeristy of New Haven and have been very involved on campus. My experience includes serving as Senator, leadership roles in several clubs and currently USGA Sergeant-at-Arms.

My passion has always been in making this campus better as either a Senator, USGA Executive Board member or in the several clubs I am apart of. As a Senator I was chairman of the commuter issues committee and worked on getting commuters and all students more involved on campus. As Sergeant-at-Arms I have focused on streamlining and making the constitution and bylaws more efficient, to help clubs, organizations and the students put on better and more exciting events. I have always made my self-available in the office or in the halls to discuss student concerns and issues, taking the steps needed to solve the problems that they may have. I have always worked hard and take pride in what I do and I will take the experience that I have gained through my various leadership roles with me if elected USGA President.

As USGA President I will like to focus on solving the large problems students have with campus like parking, shuttle service and residential life issues. I would also like to develop the quad to make it more of a gathering place when it’s warm out. One of the improvements to the quad that I would like to accomplish is to place artificial turf so that it can be more optimally unitized. A major thing I would push is for development and promotion of more tradition and school pride on campus, so that we can grow closer together as a campus community.

In conclusion I would like to say that I will work hard for the student body and will make sure that the changes I will make will transform our campus to be an even better place to get an education.

Ryan “RJay” Irons

My name is Ryan Irons, known as RJay, and I am currently a junior here at the University. Over the past few years, I have been involved in many organizations as well as participated in multiple student organization events and have witnessed first-hand the importance of a student body government. I currently serve as a Senator for the student body and being able to work with each of you and learning the developing issues around campus gives me the proper information in order to solve those concerns for the most part. As a senator, you can only do so much with the duties of the position and I believe that with a position such as the USGA President, I will be able to assist students in furthering their knowledge of the University as well as the policies or departments in order to assist them with their complaints or questions. Being a tour guide with the Admissions Department for the past 3 years has also allowed me to also hear about what students look for when coming to the university and taking their ideas into consideration about the campus. Sometimes, it takes a fresh pair of eyes in order to realize something you’ve been seeing for so long may be ineffective. Communication between the University and the Students is an extremely important slice of the college pie. A student should never be blind-sided by university changes without at least prior notification. I believe that students should be given the time to voice their concern about any changes that could affect them.

I believe that the students should be afforded the rights to a student government president that is proactive rather than reactive. 9 times out of 10, students are going to take to social media networks to rant about what they don’t like rather than submit a formal complaint. I believe the President of USGA should be reaching out to those students to see what they’d like to see differently and attempting to reach a solution rather than leaving the problem unnoticed.

Some of the ideas that I have looked into developing further:

1. Keeping you, the students, IN THE LOOP with university decisions

2. Regarding the Shuttle Services

a. Courtesy van on special request to shop rite & charger plaza during certain times

b. University Sponsored Housing shuttle should run late on week days as well instead of ending at 11pm

3. Regarding Dining Services

a. The opportunity of Grill 155 delivering food

4. Reworking the co-sponsor system amongst Gold and Blue status organizations to lay out the difference between financial, manpower, and/or items to assist other organizations

5. Hosting Presidents Round Table to see how the USGA can assist RSO’s in their success

6. Hosting more campus-wide events to intersperse the student body to create a close-knit community where students will gain memorable experiences on campus as a whole.

These are just some of the ideas I have going into the position if elected but working with each and every one of you, together, we can make UNH better than before. So remember, “A Vote for Me Is a VOICE for YOU!”