In May, Student Association President DuJuan Smith announced a number of projects he hoped to put into action this semester.

Smith outlined the status of several of his campaign promises.

SA Tuesdays

Smith planned to situate SA members in the residence halls to inform students about the Student Association. The project has taken a variety of different outlets, including presentations in the King Memorial Commons, the Holmes Student Center, DuSable Hall and the Huskie Line buses. Future plans include surveys held at the Campus Recreation Center to determine how the SA can better serve students.

“We try to catch people in their normal environment,” Smith said. “The SA is all around you, we just want to remind you that we’re students, too.”

Freshman business major Aya Shoukry said she is aware of the SA, but has not heard of SA Tuesdays.

“Students should be familiar with the SA, because it helps to know that if you have a problem you can go to another student for help,” Shoukry said.

Smith also hopes to have senate town hall meetings in each of the five districts to give the entire community equal say in upcoming events.

Get-out-of-debt Office

This program, still in its formative stages, is run by graduate students and located in the Student Legal Assistance Office. Representatives visited UNIV 101 classes to educate students on credit cards, debt and managing finances. The office is working to get space on both the SA and the Students’ Legal Assistance Web sites to post information regarding laws relating directly to debt. Attorneys Don Henderson and Lynn Richards can be contacted for individual counseling or to give presentations at group meetings by contacting the office.

Ashley Kaminski, a freshman elementary education major, said the office would be very helpful.

“If we didn’t have anything to guide us financially, we wouldn’t necessarily know what to do,” Kaminski said. “I’m the first child in my family to go to college, so my parents don’t have any experience with this kind of thing. That office is a great idea.”

Henderson, director of Student Legal Assistance, said the program has received a lot of good feedback.

“It’s a fairly new program,” Henderson said. “We’ve been doing debt counseling for years as lawyers, but in conjunction with the Student Association there has been a new enhanced effort to get more information to students regarding debts, emphasizing budgets and risks associated with credit cards. This year Lynn [Richards] and myself give the actual presentations, but we do have law students present for the presentations in hopes that they can take over in the future.”

Expanding Late Night Ride Service

This is still in the works.

“Action hasn’t formally been taken and probably won’t be taken until next semester,” Smith said.

He hopes to increase the number of vehicles and thus decrease the wait time for students.

Michele Ramirez, a freshman corporate communication major, said Late Night Ride Service is very helpful, but additions would be nice.

“It helps keep the roads safer,” Ramirez said. “But you have to call an hour before you want to leave.”

New plans

A large focus of Smith’s programming has been on cultural awareness. “Mosaic” and “Archie Bunker’s Neighborhood” were both programs that saw successful turnouts earlier in the semester and an organizational expo took place at the beginning of the year in Central Park. Smith also hopes to revitalize the Student’s Choice Award for faculty, staff and professional staff.

Smith is very optimistic about future programs and dealing with challenges that may arise.

“My vision is to see the SA become more proactive,” Smith said. “I’d like the student body to be more proactive as well. The SA will try to talk to students on an interpersonal level, and in return I’d like them to talk to us about any problems they might have. That way we will have the best experience for everyone.”