Campus Infrastructure Who?

Looking back, I at times feel disappointed that I didn’t take the time my freshman year to become an active member of the Student Government Association (SGA), because now that I am a senator-at-large and the chair of the Campus Infrastructure Committee, I can truly appreciate what great work this organization does.

For one thing, I feel that the entire SGA really cares about our school, and I’m pretty sure we all try to do what is in the best interest of the student body. I don’t know anyone in the SGA that isn’t truly committed to making Trinity a better place. It’s really funny, but I think almost everyone in the SGA is extremely involved on our campus even outside of the SGA. Look at every senator’s planner, and you’ll see it booked essentially from dawn until dusk. Honestly, we are probably the most dedicated and driven people around – we all care about actually bringing about substantive change and, contrary to popular belief, we spend a lot of time working together to accomplish the goals that our President, Andrew Pedro ’08, has set for us. We have meetings every week, not only as the entire Senate, but also in our committees.

Personally, I believe my committee is truly awesome, mainly because I have four great guys working with me: Ryan Haney ’10, Joe Tarzi ’08, Chris Gardner ’10 and Ben Yanni-Lazarus ’08. They are all extremely motivated and enthusiastic about the projects we have in store for the rest of the academic year. Yanni-Lazarus already took on the major task of researching, planning and setting up a Downtown Shuttle, which runs basically every Thursday except holidays (Thanksgiving, etc.) from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. We really wanted to give students the opportunity to explore more of Hartford, whether it is going to dinner and seeing a show or going shopping at some chic boutiques. Also, there is the obvious nightlife aspect, and we wanted to prevent students from going to clubs or bars where they would inevitably drink and be forced to drive home. In my opinion, I would say it has been pretty successful so far.

Haney is the chair of our subcommittee dealing with Chartwells. He and representatives from each class (we actually still have some open spots, so if you’re interested, contact either Haney or me) meet with either Ed Taraskewich, Chartwells Senior Director; Toby Chenette, Chartwells Director of Operations; Keith Edwards, Chartwells Executive Chef; or Dave Gelinas, Chartwells Bistro Manager, on Fridays during lunch to discuss what Chartwells is doing correctly and what needs improvement. We highly encourage students to either stop by that table if you have any suggestions, or just e-mail Haney. He is your voice when it comes to the food we have available on campus!

In addition, Tarzi and Gardner are helping me out with several things. First off, we are trying very hard to get at least one Zipcar on campus. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re basically cars that you can rent either by the hour or by the day, so if you just need to get to the grocery store or if you’re maybe planning to take a quick weekend trip home, there will be a car at your disposal. Gas and insurance are included – all you have to do when we (hopefully) finally get this rolling is fill out an easy online application and pay a small fee to get you started. For my part, I find this idea exceptionally exciting and I’m extremely looking forward to seeing, say, a Prius sitting in the Mather parking lot. Speaking of parking, probably the best thing that will come out of this is that the awful parking situation we have on campus will hopefully be alleviated. Also, we are working to better our relationship with Campus Safety. Earlier this month we accompanied Associate Director of Campus Safety Chris Lyons and Campus Safety Officer Ramon Rosario as they did their bi-annual Lighting Walk, where they not only test the blue light boxes around campus, but also check to see where there is perhaps a need for better visibility. We made suggestions and ultimately, I feel that Campus Safety is an important ally we have, and I think as we all know, there is always room for improvement, and so by collaborating closely with them, we hope to make Trinity students feel more secure on campus. Finally, the Campus Infrastructure Committee also wants to start up a student-run recycling task force. Instead of burdening the Facilities Department with recycling, which sometimes (okay, a lot of times) doesn’t get done correctly, we will put recycling in the hands of students that really care, and that will get paid to be responsible for making sure our paper, bottles and cans get recycled properly. In partnership with Green Campus, the SGA will partially fund more bins around campus and dramatically enhance the system we have now. We’re still ironing out the final details, but we expect to have this going by the spring – definitely a thrilling initiative.

Overall, it is my job to represent the concerns of the student body, and I try really hard to keep in touch with everyone, whether it is just by walking up to them and talking to them directly, or even via Facebook. (So if I’ve randomly sent you a friend request and you have no idea who I am, now you know!) If at any point in time you have something you think needs to be addressed, please don’t hesitate to contact me. It doesn’t even have to be related to Campus Infrastructure necessarily – just know that I’m here, as is the rest of the SGA, for you.