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Show 1rI8IIB.cc.&OOJFID§ o ~ Muller says 'students must' come first' By CHAD LAMB ASSOCIATE EDITOR improveme ocs made each year regardless of the students who :m: in charge: ... My hope is that SUUSA improves each year, " he said. ·· 1 hope next year SUUSA docs better, too. ·· As president of student government, tackling the issue of keeping students Muller is n't new to student government. ln 1996, during his freshman yc:ar, informed is not an easy task. However, having all student information easily Muller was elected SUUSA academic vice president. However, he said, it was a accesible is an important issue for most students. position he did not know much about. "Someone asked me to run , so I did," he SUUSA President Treion Muller cakes this approach to hearl. Muller has already said. That year was what he called, "the ha.rdest year o f my college career. - The implemented a program that will bring all important information together for experience he gained as the academic vic;e presidem is something Muller said he students, making it easier to find what they doesn't regret; it prepared him for some of are looking for. what he is doing now as president. "I really Since becoming president, Muller has had have a vision of how to improve cam1)lis one goal in mind: Make the students come life for the students." he said. first. "We are looking om for the srndents, Muller said he believes that the whole and sec that all the information is in the reason student government exists is to right place, Muller said. Muller used the serve the.: students. "That 's what wc: are word "we, " because, he said , he is not alone here for. Being a student leader requires on this project. Centralizing important the understanding that you must serve, .. he student infonnation was one of Muller's added. platform planks when he was elected This year, all three branches of student president during spring quarter. Since then, government will meet togcthc.:r, something he and his cabinet members have worked it has never done before. In the past, the side by side to make the students come first. senate, the preside nt's council and the Muller said he believes that working as a cabinet members met in three separate team is the key to success, and that without meetings. "They did not meet as a w hole," the help of his cabinet he would not be able Muller said. "They basically met whenever to accomplish the goals he has set forth. they wanted." Now all three branches will The information project includes manning mee t together every Tuesday for a 30 an information desk found across the hall ~ minllle meeting to speak about issues :mu from the T-Ilird Circle in the Sharwan Smith ~concerns. Center. An SUUSA representative will be g "Having all three branches meet togc.:thcr there to make information available for ~ was a simple change that no one had ever st udems. ~ tried before, " Muller said. He said he fc.:lt The information at the booth will range ~ the change has brought stucknt fro m the location of campus facilities to elgovernm<.:lll together already this year, and pointing o ut lO whom students can talk ~that it is really important that each branch SUUStl Pres/den/ Treion Muller, wh o's discussing a mat/er with Julie regarding classt:s o ffc.:red. A brochure has of student government is united in been procluc c:d which includ1.:s information Clawson, mi SU USA service coordinator, says he contributes his success to purpose. "We know that we can work his slrong team of cabinet members wh<J share his vision of serotng /h e abo ut the colleges a nti professors on together and rely o n each other. We.: have a students. campus, important da tes 10 remember and lot of trust. " he aducd. the semes1er convc.:rsion . Muller sa id he kn<.:w that being prcsidc:nt I laving worked o n several p rojects with his sc.:lec.:1cd cabin<..: t, 1\lullcr said that is not a job of po pularity o r excitement. Each day is different fo r him, and can go mc:mhers of SU USA ha,·e become a group o f people.: he has grown lO trust. '' My fro m a fun and exciting time to a stressful situatio n at any minute. Muller finished cabinc:t is the bcs c team I have ever worked with," he said. "They arc individuals by saying he loves to serve, anu that the st uucnts a lways come firs t.for him in with ,·isio n and drin:." Muller added that each year the quality of people who each situation. work with SUUSA seems to improve. He quickly added that each year srudcnt "The greatest thing I have gaineu !as president] is t hat r have.: lc.:arncd to lo ve the.: government has g reat individuals working for it, hut that the re should be s wdents," he said. "If I didn 't like the students, it would be a misc.:rablc.: job. " Mission statement reworked Scholarship By JARED ROBBINS JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Earlier this month, the majority of all SUU teachers and administrators gathered together in the Great Hall at the Hunter Conference Center to become fami liar with an important new document. President Steven D. Bennion explained to this audience the importance of having a compass guiding the school coward the future. SUU's new mission statement is meant to be "more than just words that hang on the wall ," said Assistant co the President Neal Cox. Indeed, its aim is to provide direction and clarify unNersity policy. It is supposed to provide a plan and a goal for au deci$ions made by SUU leaders and teachers. Lase fall , a group of 21 individuals was chosen to write a new mission statement for the school. Specifically, its job was to pm in writing the unique goals of SUU as a university. The committee consisted of two SUU students and 19 members of the school's faculty and staff. Chairman of the committee was communication department chair, Frain G. Pearson . By spring of last year, Cox said that the group had finally reached a compromise, created a document that demonstrated "group thinking," and represented the d.iversc aims of the university. Pearson and the commiuee met in groups, two o r three times a month, almost all of last year to create the new mission statement. . So what is the aim of SUU? What is the university's purpose? These are preuy heavy questions and there was, at first, little consensus concerning the answer. The committee was to decide what role -research played in the institution's future. Also, the group was to decide whether general education or specific job-related skills are the university's primary focus. In addition to this, the mission statement committee was charged with reaffirming the importance of personalized learning and, above all, the importance of teaching. The mission statement reads in its opening paragraph, "Foremost to our role and central to our disciplines are superior teaching and quality service to students." Cox and other administrators have committed to the new mission statement and have analyzed what it really means to students. In the statement, there are nine specific references to teaching, making it clear that quality teaching is one of the primary focuses of the university. In the statement, there are also seven commitments to community service and five references dealing with social and technical experience. Also mentioned in the statement are fou r references to serving students, three references to citizenship, ethics and values, and two statements calling for respect of diversity. By looking at these references, it is easy co see which goals are given highest priority by the university. Cox said he realized the new statement will not be everything to everyone, but he saw it as a compass to help pave a path for the future of the university. He said that the SUU administration wants to make sure that this school has a rough blueprint to follow and build on for tl1e future. dollars not in abundance By HEATHER HANSEN JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Mark D. Barton, SUU's assistant vice president for student services, said tl1at the subject of scholarships is SUU's highest priority. "We have a far g reater need than we have resources co meet," Barton explained. He said that a campaign is under way co raise $12 million to $ 15 million for scholarships. "Scholarships obviously help students meet the financial obligations of their college experience and we are attempting in every way possible to find resources to help students have more scholarship dollars available," said Barton. Because of the lack of scholarship dollars, competition for a scholarship can be intense. Academic scholarships arc awarded only to students with a 3.9 GPA and a ACf score of 27. Other problems include students on scholarship who find it hard co keep them without missing other extracurricular activities that arc an important part of a college education . (co11ti11ued 011 pnge 7) |