I remember, I’m sure like many of you, where I was sitting the morning of September 11, 2001. I began my morning like any other morning, going to Scott High School and taking my seat during first period in Theatre class. I remember sitting in class as our softball coach came over the intercom and made the announcement, “Teachers, you may want to turn on your televisions and allow your class to watch as American history unfolds.” For the rest of that day, and for several days after, I sat beside my classmates and remember feeling confused, a little frightened, yet hopeful as we continued to watch the coverage. Within the upcoming week, we found out, that United Airlines Flight 93 had flown a direct path over our high school.

As years have passed, and I have continued to watch the footage from that day, I am reminded of those who we lost and those who are still mourning. I think of people like Todd Beamer, who inspired those on United Airlines Flight 93 to fight against the terrorists who had hijacked the flight. His words, “Let’s Roll” inspired them to take action and he will forever be remembered for his efforts. His wife wrote a book in remembrance of his life.

Closer to home, in Morgantown, we remember two WVU Alums who were lost on that day. We remember those like Chris Gray and Jim Samuel, Jr., who were at work at Cantor Fitzgerald in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 and never returned home again.

The events of September 11 will live on in our memories not only today, but every day of the rest of our lives. But it’s on September 11 that we pause to remember those who were lost and pay tribute to the lives lost. It’s on September 11 that we remain hopeful for the future and have a renewed American spirit. As a WVU community, let’s join together to remember.

Towards the end of last semester, Representatives from the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) came to Student Government to discuss changes to the MIX System. The changes occured over the last two weeks and since then, we’ve heard a “MIXed” array of praises and complaints.

Here is your chance. SGA would like to hear your praises and concerns for the new MIX system. Particularly if you’ve had MIX before, we’d like to hear what you think of it.

It’s another great year at West Virginia University. Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year! What an exciting year this will be – a great football and basketball season, a new University President, and an exciting new freshman class. It’s a great time to be a Mountaineer.

As your student leaders, we’re committed to helping make our student experience the best it can be and we invite you to be a part of it. SGA is an exciting way to get involved on campus, to have your voice heard, to work on important issues, and to make a difference. There are many ways you can get involved. You can attend meetings on Wednesday evenings, blog at sga.wvu.edu, email us with your concerns, initiate a program, or even run for office. We hope you’ll take time this year to join us in making a difference at WVU.

Your voice matters and that’s why this year, SGA is expanding our Speak UP campaign to include SGA Across Campus – in which we’ll move one SGA meeting a month to another location around town. We invite you to join us to speaking up about issues that are important to us – and together, we can make a tremendous difference.

Over the coming months, we’re going to address some big issues facing campus. First, we want to continue the work on Club Sports. Hundreds of WVU students participate in Club Sports and we know that those who do perform well in the classroom, on the field, and the teams are yet grossly underfunded. We’ll also continue the fight to lower textbook costs, and we’ll lead the way to fund a new Student Health Center because we all deserve a quality center to provide physical and mental care.

We are all so lucky. We are Mountaineers. We belong to a proud tradition expanding well over a century and one that has included some remarkable men and women, spectacular events, and an institution steeped in pride. We should join together as students to be good fans, good students, and to let our voices be heard on important student issues. If we do that, we’ll make WVU an even better place.

We hope to hear from you. Visit sga.wvu.edu or email us at Jason.Zuccari@mail.wvu.edu or Whitney.Peters@mail.wvu.edu.

Let’s Go Mountaineers,
Jason Zuccari and Whitney Rae Peters

For those of you that attended the University Welcome on Sunday, I believe you received a great introduction to the University and the exciting things that take place here. However, WVU is so much more than a scripted event and a stage. The welcome was only a window into what goes on here daily and what has taken place for over 140 years. Those people on stage probably appeared really important and somewhat intangible, but meeting them face to face and getting to know them in daily life is what WVU is all about. I hope that was communicated to you.

Visit that professor in his or her office, go to the RFL house and get to know the family that lives there for your residence hall, come into the SGA office and talk to me face to face, look over at the person sitting in the desk next to you in class and introduce yourself, e-mail President McGrath and let him know what your are thinking and what is important to you, go the Villanova game on August 30th and cheer on the Mountaineers. REACH OUT. BE ACTIVE. It makes all the difference.

The same goes for Fall Fest. What an incredible event! Thousands of our fellow students at a concert. A huge event with a huge stage. Loud music and big graphics. A marketer’s dream. Even consider the SGA meeting tonight. A bunch of students around a wooden table talking about all the important issues they are working on. Staged events. WVU is pretty good at this kind of thing. Again, this is only an image and just one part of what we really are about.

I must ask when looking at events like the University Welcome, Fall Fest and even the SGA meetings…is this what WVU really has meant to me? Is this really where the meaningful things and change have been brought into my life? I must confess that the answer is no. Change has happened to me in the classroom. In the residence hall. In the dining hall. In my advising meetings. In one on one meetings with other students. In working in the field on my SGA initiatives. With my friends. WVU is PERSONAL. PEOPLE make up the University. REAL LIVE PEOPLE. People who care. People who want to see you do well. A COMMUNITY. It is the most wonderful part of WVU. A big university brought down to the personal level. That is what WVU is even better at. Our University is great because we have great people.

How do you make this a personal place? By getting to know your professors and advisor. By getting to know the students on your residence hall floor. By getting to know the manager of your dining hall. By getting to know students you may never have met at campus activities and in student orgs.

For me the names just roll off my tongue. Dr. Hammock, my advisor for four years. Dr. Peterson who challenged my world view and created a fire in me related to international relations and affairs. Cookie Schultz who inspires me to understand and love the Italian Renaissance. Marilyn at Stalnaker Dining Hall who manages, what I believe to be, the best dining hall on campus and gives me a big hug when I come by. JoAnn Evans and Lisa DeFrank-Cole in the Honors College who have helped me immeasurably semester after semester. Jason Staples who challenges my ideas about diversity and understanding with the passion in his poems and about oneWVU. Erica Rogers in SGA who continues to challenge me to work on student issues and care about them deeply. My close friends Andy, Christina and Jamie, at the International House, who always remind me to take it easy, never to take myself too seriously, and laugh hysterically at their jokes.

My sincere hope for you is that you will find people like this in your own lives. Professors, students, co-leaders, friends. People that will make WVU REAL to you. To make WVU a COMMUNITY. I truly believe that is what we have here. So BE A PART OF IT!!!

The past couple of days, people have been moving in and lugging suitcases up multiple flights of stairs, trying to organize their lives and rooms to get ready for the fall semester. I am just finishing getting my apartment organized myself! Well, the semester is upon us, which is definitely really exciting for me. As I walked around campus yesterday, I could definitely tell that new students, WVU staff, and faculty are all looking forward to a new semester and a great one at that. This week will be challenging and exciting, but one of the best things about this week will be meeting new people.

Freshmen, you have a fresh start. I can’t describe how unique that is. You get to meet new people on your residence hall floor, in your classes, and the new activities or clubs you will be getting involved with. My best advice is simple…reach out! Walk down the halls of your floor and introduce yourself. Take some risks, come out of your shell! You won’t regret it!

For the upperclassmen, it is exciting to see our old friends come back into town. Some of mine are coming tonight, and I can’t wait! It will be nice to catch up on the past summer and reestablish connections. I would also challenge you to reach out this semester and year to students who you may not know or come from different backgrounds than you. One of the ways I like to do this is by meeting the new international and study abroad students. Did you know that we have around 2,000 international students at WVU from over 90 countries (Not to mention all 50 US states and 55 WV counties)? I have already met students from England, France, Hungary, Morocco, Slovakia, Japan, and probably more I am forgetting! International students are a wonderful part of our campus community, so I challenge you to find, meet, and welcome them.

Overall, enjoy the weekend with your friends and Fall Fest on Monday! The lineup seems pretty good, so be sure to check it out. Later!

Hey everyone!

This is my new blog, and I am excited to get it rolling for the Fall. SGA has tried many ways to reach out to students over the years, but we think that these blogs are a great way to facilitate some good conversations about a variety of things that are going on here at WVU. Over the year, I will be writing about my term as VP, student life at WVU, issues facing the University, and things that may stand out to me in the news or life in general. I hope that this will be an interesting place for you to come to and read and will prompt you to respond, give ideas, and to speak up on issues that matter to you! So if you have any ideas, please pass them along.

I am so excited to get the semester and year started. Another year of Mountaineer sports, my crazy friends at the International House, hitting the books, and having a great time are all reasons to be excited. What are you excited about for the new year?

Finally, this is my senior (well…super senior) year. WVU has changed my life in so many ways these past four years, and I am sure that this final year will be no different. I look forward to sharing it with you as part of the Mountaineer Nation! Look for new posts soon. Go Mountaineers!

-Tommy