The Semester Ahead

In an interview with The Spectrum, Student Association (SA) President Peter Grollitsch discussed the remaining semester of his term, touching on recent changes, upcoming events and issues that were part of his election platform, such as commuter interests and student involvement.

One major change occurring this semester is the fact that students will no longer be able to register for spring break trips at discounted prices through SA. Grollitsch attributed this to an increased cost to the university and a decrease in participation.

"The past couple of years, the numbers have been dwindling," he said.

This year, however, the companies SA collaborated with to set up the trips agreed only to provide SA officers with a free trip, but with little benefit to the university as a whole. When comparing the time and resources required to organize the information for students to the overall advantages, Grollitsch opted instead for change.

"(We) aren't going to take a free trip using student resources," Grollitsch said. "We feel we can use our resources better."

Some students, however, felt the money was well spent.

"It's maddening because it'd be cool to go someplace with people from school - you'd be able to meet other people that you wouldn't normally, but now there's no chance," said Erin Murphy, a junior psychology major hoping to take advantage of a cheap spring break option through SA this year. "It's hard to believe that out of 30,000 students, you can't find enough who are interested in going away (for spring break)."

Bonnie Moore, a sophomore English major, sees the decision as a disservice to students since they will have to pay more for a spring break trip they plan individually.

"That's messed up. People look forward to it, and now you have to pay more out of your pocket," she said.

Other students like Amanda Jonas, a freshman in pre-law, are apathetic towards the decision.

"I wouldn't go on it anyway," Jonas said.

Nico Perez, a graduate student, thinks that even though the rates were good, people would rather use their own form of transportation to get to their vacation destination.

"The price may be really good, but more people decided to travel in their own cars," Perez said.

Murphy thinks the SA could have done more to advertise the group trip and raise student interest.

"Why would they give up (on the trip) so easily if they're supposed to make UB better for the students?" Murphy asked. This takes up a few lines, if space is needed I think this could be arranged into her first quote J

Another highlight of Grollitsch's election platform was encouraging student involvement, and says he will continue to look to the student body for comments and suggestions this semester. He noted that SA has gotten a lot of feedback, but that he would like to see more.

"We've gotten a lot of response about Spring Fest," he said.

According to Grollitsch, Spring Fest is tentatively scheduled for late April, and SA is considering hip-hop and R&B for this semester's show. He encourages students to continue to submit suggestions.

"We don't have anything locked down yet," he said.

According to Grollitsch, events planned for this semester promise something for everyone. He noted a Led Zeppelin cover band tentatively scheduled for February, and the Broadway musical "The Producers," set to hit the Center for the Arts stage later this month.

"It's something different," he said. "We have a lot of undergraduates who are theater majors."

With the number of events taking place, and the upset last semester due to event scheduling, he noted that SA is trying to schedule events as effectively as possible.

"Given the availability of the venues, we only end up with two or three days we can work around," he said. "We try not to have the biggest events when classes are going on. We try to be conscious of this and not have everything on one day a week."

Another ongoing issue this semester is finding an area for the commuter lounge, though not much progress has been made. Grollitsch explained that with much of UB 2020 construction still in the planning stages, officials have been unable to commit to a space for the lounge.

"It's still something that's on the top of the agenda," he said. "(But) it's not an overnight process. It takes a while."

Grollitsch added that he does not want a space for the lounge designated before UB 2020 plans are more concrete, only to have it change quickly.

"We want something more permanent," he said.

According to Grollitsch, plans are also being made to create more parking, with more lots to be designated for faculty, staff and students.

"There's quite a bit in the works," he said. "We're looking to alleviate some parking concerns for students."

Finding a parking space is a major concern for a lot of students. Many agree that the university doesn't have enough available.

"I think we need bigger parking lots, or lots closer to the buildings," said Anna Kuehn, a sophomore physics major.

According to Johanna Wallance an undecided major, parking is a concern for visitors as well.

"When my friends come to visit, they usually get a ticket because there's nowhere to park," she said.

According to Grollitsch, the SA has been spending the mandatory student activity fee effectively.

"We're right in line with where we have been in the past couple of years," he said.

Some students, however, are still concerned with how their money is being spent.

"I don't know what the Student Activity Fee actually encompasses," said Eric Klaben, a junior environmental engineering major. "Maybe there could be an easier way of letting people know where it goes to and that would ease people's minds about that money."

Additional reporting by Leslie Church, Asst. News Editor.