Welcome to Hurricane Season!

Hey all,

We're a few weeks and a few hurricane threats into the semester but everything seems to be running smoothly. We continue to work on many of our platform promises as well as some other issues that you have brought to our attention. One issue that we are currently working on addressing is the new UPrint service. Many issues have been brought to us and we are diligently seeking the resolutions to many of them. Student organizations will have an option coming soon but please direct your feedback to me and we will continue to work on your behalf.

ZipCar has arrived and the cars are be parked by the Hecht/Stanford parking area. Rent a ZipCar hourly ($8/hr) or by the day ($65/day) --gas and insurance are included, and you only have to be 18+ to rent! There have also been several other projects including extended dining hours (to 9:30pm), all-access parking by the Wellness Center and more UBikes should be coming in soon. For more information on all of these SG projects and updates on some other things that we continue to work on click here!

Throughout the year we will be going around to various student groups to ask how we can continue to serve you. If you would like us to come to your group about any issue please e-mail our Campus Involvement Committee. Also, please feel free to e-mail me at any time or stop by our office UC214. We are looking forward to continuing serving you!

Go 'Canes!

-Brandon

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to all returning students and a special welcome to the new students!
Orientation is here and we are very excited to start off the new year.
Student Government will have a presence at Orientation 2008 and we will be looking for new members to get involved.
SG will be at the "
Getting Involved" sessions on Friday (8/22) and Saturday (8/23) and will be holding two SG Interest Sessions on Monday (8/25) at 11am and Tuesday (8/26) at 2pm on the second floor of the University Center (I-Lounge). All are welcome to come!




We have been working very hard this summer on a lot of projects
and are very pleased to announce that many have
already been completed! ZipCar has arrived and the cars will be parked by the Hecht/Stanford parking area. Rent a ZipCar hourly or by the day for only $8/hr.--gas and insurance are included, and you only have to be 18+ to
rent!
There have also been several other projects including extended dining hours, all-access parking by the Wellness Center and UBikes are now available at the bookstore to all students for only $59. For more information on all of these SG projects and updates on some other things that we continue to work on click here!




Throughout the year we will be going around to various student groups and ask how we can continue to serve you. If you would like us to come to your group about any issue please e-mail our Campus Involvement Committee. Also, please feel free to e-mail me (brandon@miami.edu) at any time or stop by our office UC214. Looking forward to a great year!




Go 'Canes!




-Brandon

Goodbye to U!

So it's been a while since I've blogged, and I'm sad to say this will be my last.  While I'm no longer President of SG, I'm very proud to add the word "Emeritus" to my title.  This past year has taught me a lot.  First off - titles don't mean anything.  So many times, we get caught up in who gets called what, and whom reports to whom, and who gets the credit.  My favorite quote (taken from my Facebook profile): "It's amazing all that can be accomplished when nobody cares about the credit".  You do things because they are the right thing to do.  You do things because they make you feel good and you know you are doing others good and enhancing their collegiate experience.  This has been our team's philosophy from the start.

Now, nearly a month being out of office, I've had some time to reflect.  Things have certainly slowed down (including my heart rate).  Much of the end of our term was spent compiling content for the first Student Government Annual Report.  Special thanks to John Gottshalk (Art Director) and Bari Lieberman (Editor) for putting together such a professional publication.  This report has been made available on our website (www.miami.edu/sg) and copies will be made available in the Student Government office and in other administrative offices on the campus.  You can download a copy of the report here.  We also plan on delivering a copy to The Miami Hurricane's office so they can read all about our achievements they missed while covering irrelevant stories or while negatively reporting positive stories.

The University of Miami has given me lots of opportunities and experiences.  I've made a great deal of friends along the way (fellow students and administrators).  Just because I'm graduating, doesn't mean all of the friends and memories will fade away...  I won't let that happen.

While I was at my house over the weekend visiting my parents, I found this picture from my 3rd birthday party.  We had a UM-themed party since my dad's cousin at the time, was a UM cheerleader.  The entire cheerleading team and the Miami Maniac came to my birthday party.  Kinda scary to think that 18 years later, I would be graduating from the University of Miami.

As for my plans post-graduation...  I have accepted a job with Humana to work as a Project Analyst at the Innovation Center in Louisville, KY.  Being born and raised in Miami my whole life, I'm a little nervous about the move to the midwest, but I'm also VERY excited!  At least I will be a minority again (Cuban) after leaving Miami.  I will certainly miss my family and my friends who live in Miami, but I'm bound to travel a lot in the position I will have and will try to get back to Miami as often as work will allow.  After a few years of working, I plan on going back to school to get my MBA.

If you ever want to reach me, my email address is dannycarvajal@gmail.com.  I wish all of my fellow graduates of the class of 2008 the best of luck with wherever life takes you.  Remember all the memories at The U, and cheers to all the new ones the real world has to offer us!

Much love,

Danny

Eve Carson's Memorial Service

Last Tuesday, I traveled to University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill for the day to attend Eve Carson's Memorial Service and Celebration of her life at the UNC campus.  Eve was the Student Body President of UNC.  Soon after hearing of Eve's death, the ACC Student Body Presidents engaged in an email thread to discuss what each of our schools were doing to show support for our colleagues at our ACC-sister school.  Myself and the Wake Forest Student Body President, Whitney Marshall, attended the service.  I also realized that Eve was the inspiration for us to create our own YouTube channel for Student Government.  I recall watching a YouTube video she made last semester introducing herself and the SG office to students on the web.  I sent an email to Molly Jones back in November, sharing my excitement about the idea and "how cool would it be to mimic what UNC's SG is doing".

Here are some pictures I took from my phone while I visited their Student Government office:

Above: The flowers sent from the us.

From my view:

Below: A sign posted on the door of the SG office.

Below: Eve's Door

The memorial service was very touching.  You can see videos below.  The arena was packed with friends, family, and others wearing Carolina baby blue in support of Eve.

Congratulations to "Committed to U"

After a very long election, complete with run-offs, election code violations, and court hearings, Brandon Gross, Claudia Medina, and Shajena Erazo are the newly elected Student Government leaders.  I am very happy for them and look forward to transitioning and seeing the wonderful platforms they plan to accomplish.  Congratulations to you and your entire team.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Visit to UM

So it's been a while since I've blogged.  Things have been very busy for me lately.  My apologies to all of you dedicated "readers"...  :-)

This past Tuesday, Dana Dombey and her ambitious team from ShalomUM organized an event celebrating the 60 year relationship between the US and Israel.  They invited Congresswomen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to speak.  I had the wonderful privilege of introducing the Congresswoman to speak about the past US-Israel relations and its future.  

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the first Cuban female to be elected into Congress, and as a Cuban myself, I was extremely honored to meet her.  She mentioned how the US-Israel relationship is a bipartisan issue.  Nobody can disagree that helping the Israeli people is the right thing to do.

The turnout for the event was fantastic.  Major kudos to ShalomUM for hosting the event and the other 20+ student organizations who sponsored.

Run-off Elections: Crystal vs. Gross

This should come as no surprise to anybody. I was anticipating a run off this election season. First off, would like to commend the remaining candidates for staying strong. Within 5 minutes after hearing the election results last Thursday, Dan Lazaro was already endorsing Jeremy Crystal. Guess that's how short it took for him to mourn his loss and rebound the defeat. This leads me to my next question: Did Dan know he was going to lose? If not, why didn't he think a little longer before running to make an endorsement. It just doesn't make that much sense to me, personally.

I commend Pravin Patel and The Hurricane for publishing an article today highlighting the flaws in several of Jeremy Crystal's central platforms. I said it before, and I'll say it again, OUR ADMINISTRATION HAS ALWAYS MAINTAINED AN OPEN DOOR POLICY. I don't know where Crystal's campaign got the idea that we didn't. I know I surely spent time meeting with him one night as he walked right into my office. Why? Because we have an open-door policy. I guess it's easier to judge the current administration when you aren't in Student Government. This does not necessarily mean you are not qualified, as neither Molly, Justin nor myself had any SG experience coming into office. But at the same time, you NEVER saw any of us "bashing" Annette Ponnock's administration - rather, we seeked out all of the good things she did and made sure to comment on those. Positivity speaks a hell of a lot more powerfully than negativity. Trust me.

In my last blog, I stated that Molly, Justin, and myself had chosen not to endorse any candidates. Things have changed a bit. After watching, hearing, and reading some of the campaign tactics of certain candidates, I'm no longer as open-minded and 'neutral' as I was previously. Molly is endorsing Brandon's campaign, of which I support her 100%. I have chosen to not publicly endorse any candidate, although will continue to share my disgust with some of the platforms the candidates are running on.

Best of luck.
DC