Laoruangroch/Heppermann approved by Senate

By Jenna Youngs

Published Jan. 23, 2004

Brian Laoruangroch wants to talk to you.

The new Missouri Students Association president and vice president Kara Heppermann said opening the lines of communication between MSA and the student body will be a major component of their administration.

They will do this in three ways, Laoruangroch said. He and Heppermann, along with Nick Trusty, the new director of the Department of Student Communications, will create a "street team" to speak in lecture classes about MSA happenings. Laoruangroch also will provide updates through ads in campus publications, including contact information.

"Basically, if you want to know what's going on with MSA, it'll be right there in the paper for you," Laoruangroch said.

The ads will include MSA's Web site so students can voice their opinions about MSA activities and communicate with student leaders.

Laoruangroch said he and Heppermann will keep up to date on what the different campus organizations are doing.

"Kara and I will be sitting in with one different student organization each week so we can know how they work and provide them with an opportunity to come and talk to us," he said.

Heppermann said she wants the student body to know that the administration is available to help.

"Brian and I have been elected to serve as representatives of the students," she said. "There's no way we can possibly speak for all 20,000 students, but the more communication we have, the better we can give an opinion that's not just our opinion."

Students can find Laoruangroch and Heppermann any time, Laoruangroch said.

"You can find us any time down here in A022 Brady," he said. "I put my schedule up on the door (for others) to keep track of where I am. The classrooms I'm in are up there. If I'm studying, I wrote that I'll be studying in Ellis. If I'm exercising, I'm going to be at the Rec Center. If you need to find me, you can find me."

Once the three-part communication plan is worked out, Laoruangroch's and Heppermann's other plans can come together, Laoruangroch said.

At Wednesday night's MSA meeting, Laoruangroch and Heppermann updated the Senate on their plans after they were sworn in and after Matthew Sokoloff, who is also a graphics designer for The Maneater, was appointed Student Fee Review Committee Chairman.

Laoruangroch informed the Senate that he and Heppermann have looked into appointees for their cabinet. They have chosen their cabinet and are now awaiting confirmation of their choices.

"I was interested in getting more involved with MSA, and Kara approached me about the position," said Andrea Smith, Department of Student Services cabinet chair-elect. "It's exciting to work with such a great group of people."

Laoruangroch also shared his idea to incorporate Rock the Vote activities into MSA-sponsored concerts.

Two weeks ago, Laoruangroch attended a president's summit in Springfield and decided, along with presidents from other Missouri campuses, to try to get as many people registered on campus as possible. All the presidents will work collectively to get the attention of the state government, he said.

"We can write letters to all the people up for office and we can say, &#39We have so many people registered on our campus,' so instead of talking about Medicare and Social Security they should talk about issues of higher education, which is huge," he said. "People are always complaining, &#39Yeah my tuition is going up,.' so when people have a vote they have the right to change that. When you unify these things under a university, it's a force to be reckoned with and will cause anybody to come over here to change minds."