By Joshua Phelps
The Scene staff
Members of the new Forest Park Student Government Association want to do what they can to make life easier for students.
All of the SGA’s six members have issues that interest or concern them. Newcomer Soroda Nasiri thinks the campus needs a better space for students to “hang out” between classes.
“The Highlander Lounge, a lot of times, that room is booked,” she said. “On Fridays, it’s used for the African Pride Club. It’s also used for conferences, meetings and other events.”
Nasiri said Cafe East and Cafe West are always reserved, and other small lounges are in out-of-the-way places. She would like to see a large space that’s accessible to students at all times.
Nasiri, 26, is a general transfer student and columnist for The Scene student newspaper. Another one of her issues is transportation.
“There’s a lot of students who ride the bus,” she said. “It takes them an hour to two to get to school, go home. We pay for (transportation). It comes out of our tuition. I was thinking if we increase the fee from $1 to $2, we could partner with Uber or Lyft to provide those services.”
Finally, Nasiri wants to bring awareness to what she calls a “rape culture.” She believes it exists all over the world, but she is starting her effort to change attitudes at Forest Park.
“I want to educate because I feel a lot of violence comes from harassment, and the culture that we live in is OK’ing objectification of women and men,” Nasiri said.
The SGA is a 15-seat organization that acts as a liaison between students and the administration.
Members are supposed to be chosen in campus elections, but sometimes there aren’t enough candidates to fill all the seats, and voter turnout is low. Members need at least a 2.5 grade-point average.
An executive board, consisting of Campus Life manager Donivan Foster and SGA supervisor Dedra Duncan, also can make appointments.
“(SGA) is, essentially, a voice of the campus from the student body,” Foster said.
This semester, there were six SGA candidates. All won in an election on Oct. 4.
Foster said 200 to 300 students voted. “It was based on the participation in the Fall Fest,” he said. “In order for people to participate in the Fall Fest, they had to show their student ID and vote. They were able to participate in everything else.”
The SGA president is Dalia Alshawi, 21, a biochemistry major. She got involved because she likes team-building activities.
Other officers include Lester Hope as vice president, Massooma Mikhwir as treasurer and Daison Williams as parliamentarian. Nasiri is a representative at large, along with Ndakize Mihigo.
Alshawi, an international student from Iraq, said, “I joined the SGA because I really love this school and this community. I just wanted to bring change to it.”
One of Alshawi’s most pressing issues is helping other international students who are in the English as a second language program.
Alshawi said some ESL students need assistance with FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. She gave an example of a friend who incorrectly filled out the form, resulting in her financial aid being rejected.
At the SGA’s Oct. 24 meeting, members discussed ideas for helping these students, including providing translators to guide them through the process.
“I love to help students and come up with new ideas for the school or change things I don’t like,” Alshawi said.
Graphics major Daison Williams, 18, became an SGA candidate after being encouraged by his friends. One of his goals is trying to bring down the high cost of food in the Forest Park cafeteria.
“I guess they could bring that down a bunch,” he said.
Hope, 19, is a general studies student. He ran for SGA to make an impact at the college.
“I’m trying to get more students involved in activities,” he said.
It’s not too late for Forest Park students to get appointed to the SGA. Specifically, the organization needs a corresponding secretary and recording secretary.
Alshawi said one problem with trying to drum up interest is that many students aren’t aware the organization even exists.
“I didn’t know until I got a job here as a student worker, and they told me there was a club called the SGA,” she said. “The people who don’t work here in the department don’t know about it, and they don’t know the benefits of it.”