For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Ryan Bridges, and I’m the Student Body President here at Sam Houston State. I know it’s a bit late for this (considering school started last week), but I’d like to go ahead and welcome all of you, both new students and returning students, to Fall 2009 at SHSU.

This year, I’m hoping to start writing a weekly column detailing what has happened in the Student Government Association and in the university during the previous week. Why all the emphasis on SGA? Here’s the thing: Student Government is the only organization on campus that is mandated by the state of Texas that is required of each university in the state. We act as your representatives to the university administration, the Texas State University System Board of Regents, and the state legislature. So when the student body as a whole has an issue that needs to be addressed (like, ahem, Tortilla Fresca), we’re the people that express those issues to the powers that be.

Speaking of Tortilla Fresca, I’ll go ahead and give a quick synopsis of the events that have occurred in the past week. We had a very productive meeting on Friday afternoon with several representatives from Aramark, and brought forward several options that we think will be beneficial to the students. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the meal plan reinstated, because this has to be voted on by the university system Board of Regents in February. However, we will be mentioning this issue to the regents at the November meeting and are hoping it can be reinstated by next fall.

I’m going to completely change speeds now and talk about something that’s unbelievably important to me, student involvement. If you went to freshman convocation, this will be the second time you’ll hear me talk about this. This year, I encourage everyone to get involved in an organization of some kind on this campus. We have well over 200 organizations here at Sam, and I encourage everyone to get plugged in somewhere, and get involved in the university community. Don’t be the student that goes to class and goes straight back to their dorm. As clich as it sounds, the sky really is the limit, so go into the university community, make a difference, and be the person you want to be.

If you ever have any questions or concerns about anything at all, my office is always open to students and administrators alike. The Student Government offices are located on the third floor of the Lowman Student Center in room 326. As an organization, we’re trying to be as helpful and open as possible to the students of this university, so please, don’t hesitate to contact us for any reason. See you around campus!