Tag: USGA

Election Reflection

Election Reflection

In the shadow of the presidential primaries, Loyola has been having its own elections. Earlier in the week, the Unified Student Government Association (USGA) held its spring elections, which, among other things, elected the student body president for next year.

LU wolf wanted everyone to vote!

To be honest, I don’t remember last year’s election. In fact, I don’t even think I voted.  However, this year, several of my fraternity brothers (the same fraternity that Tad often references) were running for various positions, so I had much more interest in what was going on.

As someone who would have ignored the elections if they weren’t brought to my immediate attention, I wasn’t surprised to learn that LUC has an extremely low percent of students that actually vote; in fact, only 30.1% of students voted.

It’s sad, but I also think it’s possible to change that number. For myself, once I decided to vote, I took a marked interest in how the elections were run – and was more than pleasantly surprised with what I found.

To make myself an educated voter, I read the candidate statements, watched the WTC and LSD debates and stalked USGAs webpage and twitter. It’s amazing, because I never realized how official and thoroughly our elections are run.

I was more than impressed, and I think if more students were exposed to this part of the elections, they would be too.

I hope that more students get a chance to see how great our election are, but in the meantime, congrats to Julia Poirier and Sarah McDowell!

Best Places To Study Around Campus

Best Places To Study Around Campus

It’s finals week! Which means that the library is extra packed and it can be hard to find a good place to study. Here are a few good alternatives to the library:

1. An empty classroom. Loyola leaves the classrooms unlocked until about 11:30ish at night. So as long as it is after normal class hours this will guarantee some peace and quiet to really crank out the studying.

2. USGA Office. Not very many people know about it, but USGA opens up their office that is in the student union to anyone who needs a quiet place to study.  It is also right by Rambler Room so you will not have to travel far to get a snack!

3. The Stacks. Looking to really seclude yourself from the outside world? Then the stacks in the library are for you. It may take a little wandering around to find the perfect place, but most likely you will find a desk surrounded by stacks of books with no one else around.

4. A Friends Room. CAUTION: this will only work if you are both committed to studying! But if you are, it can be the perfect environment to get a lot done. A friends room will not be stuffy and uncomfortable like other places might be. Be careful though! It can also be easiest to get distracted in this environment.

5. Center Stage Cafe in Mundelein. The cafe in Mundelein can be a great place to study if you are not looking for a silent study area but are afraid of the seductive powers your bed in your room has. It also is right across the hall from the cafe so you can load up on the snacks and get buckets of coffee.