Sign up for a time slot and bring an apple for your teacher; The Spectrum is giving the Student Association a grade based on performance thus far.
SA needs more class participation, as they stay relatively silent on information about UB's budget. UB is a public university and therefore the budget should be up-to-date and easily accessible. So far this year, SA has been unable to meet with The Spectrum to discuss their expenditures. SA has catching up to do.
This year, the Student Senate was appointed without an election, meaning SA doesn't cooperate well with others. Regardless, Senate meetings are open to the public, so The Spectrum encourages students to attend.
SA gets an A for effort for bringing a variety of popular acts to UB, such as Gym Class Heroes and The Adult Circus. Where SA needs improvement is in the scheduling of events; many students wanted to go but were had conflicts with classes.
SA is not entirely responsible for the scheduling conflicts - some events are booked through the Office of Special Events, but they should speak up more often on behalf of the students. Out of all the speakers in UB's Distinguished Speakers Series, only Michael Moore was booked on a Saturday night; Ishmael Beah and every other speaker are booked on a weeknight.
Students deserve an equal chance to see all the speakers when they don't have class. Booking the majority of events on weeknights makes SA seem like they're purposely keeping their weekends free of events so they can party.
So far, SA has the potential to be in the high A-range by the end of the semester. Once the Student Association catches up on bringing information to its students, there will be little doubt this has been one of the cleanest SA years we've seen since before Pape and Burgio. The Spectrum gives SA a B, but there's always room for improvement.
Final grade: upper B, or 4/5 stars
Heard in the News
The Spectrum sounds off on f*cking awesome headlines
Woman posts ad on Craigslist to give away her daughter, now has to get her back from social services
"How much?" - Rafi Kobayashi
Guiliani describes running for president as torture
"Ask John McCain what torture really is." - Alex Rubin
Church in Kentucky organizes support for Britney Spears
"I don't think this is what God meant by helping the needy!" - Fionna Agomuoh
British government laying off clowns, circus animals
"Officials complain that between the big shoes and abundant amount of makeup, the clowns were walking on a tightrope and they just couldn't keep balance." - Dan Mecca
"They were working for peanuts anyway." - Rafi Kobayashi
Cooter Crisis in Citrus County
Editor's note: This is the actual Bay News headline. A cooter is nickname for a type of turtle.
"The only thing worse than a Sunday morning hangover is a cooter crisis." - Dan Mecca
College student racks up $35,000 tab at strip club, father says he was preyed upon by strippers
"Exactly how does one rack up a $35,000 tab out of one-dollar bills?" - Fionna Agomuoh
Feral cats no. 1 threat at JFK
"Well, if so all those damn metal detectors have got to go!" - Fionna Agomuoh
"Homeland Security cat is not amused." - Silas Rader
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
