SA plans major changes

 

 
            With the new semester comes some big changes for the Student Association. It's only the first week and already SA is planning to change the way they interact with students.

 
            'We want to bring more quality programs to students and be more in touch with them,' said SA President Ernesto Alvarado. 'We are the Student Association. We're here for the students.'

 
            In order to bring more activities and events to students, SA was forced to make some big cuts – one of the biggest sufferers being Visions, the bi-weekly SA magazine.

 
            'We decided as an administration that Visions wasn't really reaching its potential as a publication,' Alvarado said.

 
            According to SA Treasurer Jordan Fried, SA spent $30,000 a year to publish the print version of the magazine.

 
            'It was all in color and had glossy pages so printing costs were expensive. We decided to make the magazine online-only in order to free up some funds more student programs,' Fried said.

 
            Alvarado said none of the Visions employees lost their jobs and will now work on the online-only version. A link to the web content will be sent out to every UB student in a monthly SA E-mail, which will alert students to upcoming SA events.

 
            'Visions will now be strictly club content and focus only on SA events. Every student will be sent the link and have the opportunity to read about what's going on in the SA,' Alvarado said. 'The money we're saving isn't going to sit around either. We're going to use it to try and get more student concerts or bigger names for Spring Fest.'

 
            However, despite the money-saving benefits, Visions Editor-in-Chief Anna Oakes feels that the change in Visions is a detriment to UB's student journalism community and student body as a whole.

 
            'It's not really going to be journalism anymore,' Oakes said. 'It's all going to be about SA events and SA activities, and it is all written by people in SA. You can't call it anything except a newsletter, I think that it is a negative move. I don't think students are going to read it now that it is online only. The reason that people read the publications on campus is because they can pick it up and take it to class.'

 
            Oakes fears that even more of the student voice is going to be lost in the SA shuffle and that her staff may not stay on because the decision to change the magazine's format and content was forced on them.

 
            'The decision was either to do it the way they wanted it or you're going to have to leave -- it was one or the other. They wanted to make it look like a magazine but it really wasn't going to be one. They thought it would duplicate with Generation, and now seeing their first issue, it wouldn't have at all,' Oakes said. 'Everyone is confused right now. I think everyone is staying but people are taking the job because it is still an editing job and we're in college. It's better to have something to put on a resume then nothing at all.'

 
            Students themselves seem to be indifferent to the change, merely shrugging their shoulders when asked about the Visions cut while eating in the Student Union.

 
            However, despite skeptics Alvarado is happy with the decision to cut the print version of Visions in favor of other programs to get students more involved in campus life and he's excited for the semester to come.

 
            Alvarado and the rest of the SA are planning new activities, events and benefits for students, which will be unveiled at the 'State of the SA' address on Jan. 21.

 
            At the address Alvarado will speak to UB club leaders, SA members and the student senate to ensure that all of UB's leadership are all on the same page.

 
            In addition to discussing the new Visions, Alvarado will address other big changes within SA including the extension of 24-hour busing, a new SA scholarship, SA's new environmental department, the SA mentor program, and most importantly how the SA hopes to help students cope with the increases in tuition as well as SUNY budget cuts.

 
            According to Alvarado, despite SA's attempts to rally and talk with SUNY about the issues facing students, 'we're finding ways to make concrete solutions now so we can fully benefit every student.'

 
 

 
Editor-in-Chief Stephen Marth contributed to this story.

 
 

 
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com