Student Government Association: Student leaders sworn into office

UTRGV’s Student Government Association has appointed three new senators and two senators-at-large.

Before the senate voted unanimously to approve the appointments during the Sept. 22 SGA meeting, the five senators each gave a speech on their political aspirations as student leaders.

“The things that I would want to propose, if I were to be appointed, is to first really hear the students’ concerns,” said political science and economics sophomore Andrea Maldonado, who was appointed senator for the College of Liberal Arts. “When meeting people, getting to know their concerns … it really opened my eyes into thinking that there is a lot that needs to be done.”

Maldonado said she would petition for more programs within the College of Liberal Arts, promote interconnectivity between student organizations and strengthen the relationship with the dean’s office to make the students feel more represented.

Economics sophomore Andrea Gaytan, who was appointed senator for the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship, told the senate she would like to start more programs.

“Like, getting involved with Career Services to make them specifically for students who don’t have previous work experience,” Gaytan said.

She told senators that students at UTRGV might feel discouraged to join the SGA because of a lack of work experience, but she believes including programs without a previous work caveat would allow more students to become involved.

“I believe this is a crucial time at UTRGV,” entrepreneurship sophomore Skyler Howell said during his speech. “… Right now, our school is as hot as it’s ever been. … We need a student government that can capitalize on this momentum and really fill the students’ pride while also expanding our own.”

Howell, who also was appointed senator for the business college, proposed an entrepreneurial fair at UTRGV that would showcase the abilities and talents of students to professionals and businesses.

Management senior David Salinas said his “goal is to promote college equity, equality and to also promote all the opportunities college has to offer.”

Salinas said it is important to bring awareness to students of all the resources they have available to them, like the UTRGV app that tracks bus transportation.

He also would like to promote more opportunities for students by bringing guest speakers for each department to motivate and inspire them in their careers. 

Salinas, appointed senator-at-large for the Edinburg campus, previously served as a senator in the business college.

Philosophy sophomore Noah Trstenjak, appointed senator-at-large for the Brownsville campus, said students “need a voice from among us.”

 “They need a voice … to fight on their behalf and see that this time period is a success, to see that they have opportunities, and that voice is SGA,” Trstenjak said. “We’re to be the representatives for students, as students.” 

He told senators that he is comfortable in a leadership position, and if appointed would help to make sure the voice of students would be heard and would promote an encouraging and uplifting community to help nurture student success. 

Also sworn in was Jose Luis Tabarez, senator for the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Tabarez was appointed in a previous meeting but was “unable to attend inauguration and trainings due to academic reasons,” Student Senate Chair Gregorio J. Zuniga wrote in a Sept. 29 email to The Rider.

SGA President Odalys Saenz administered the oath of office to the new appointees.

Also during the meeting, Transportation Services Director Maribel Contreras, presented information on the different services UTRGV provides to students to get around campus. 

Free transportation services for students include Vaquero Express and VOLT. All routes are operated by the university and are ADA-accessible.

Contreras also highlighted the call stops available to students.

“If you call our office, we’re able to deviate from the alignment that we have for those circuits,” she said.

The call stop number to request transportation is 665-2036 in Edinburg and 882-2036 in Brownsville.

“All the information you can find in our website and any notices that go out, you can find that information on our social media,” Contreras said. 

The VOLT service has three cars in each route alignment that run in 15-minute frequencies, according to Contreras. 

SGA Internal Vice President Ihssan Al-Qudah asked Contreras what the average time would be for VOLT to arrive if he requested transportation through the call stop.

“It wouldn’t be more than 15 minutes,” Contreras said. “We have several cars out there. As soon as somebody calls, we try to get to that location.

 “Of course, as you know, on Sugar Road there is a lot of traffic. So, depending on the area where they are at, it could be less than 15 minutes.”

The next SGA meeting will be from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday in Music, Science and Learning Center Room 1.111 on the Brownsville campus.