Final Post of the Year

As the year draws to a close, I want to thank all of you for making this year an INCREDIBLE one here at Olaf. SGA prides itself in bringing a diverse range of speakers, events, concerts, and connections to the student body- and your input was critical to making this happen. It has been a whirlwind of a year, and I can't express my gratitude to this student body, my executive team, and all of the branches of SGA for an awesome year. While my gifts apparently were not keeping a consistent blog, it was my pleasure to be able to serve the Student Government this year in any way I could. Have a fantastic summer, and look forward to thoughts from your brand-new SGA President, Wade Hauser '09, very soon.

Peace and Love,
Tyler

Reflections on life as the President

So...it's been a while since my last post, but now I am back on the horse and ready to rock:

This weekend, the Minnesota Association of Private College Students (MAPCS) met at St. Olaf in the David Johnson Board Room to discuss various matters facing the 17 private schools in MN. This group consists of the Council of Presidents (the 17 Student Body Presidents) as well as a selected representative from each institution.

It was a really great experience to be able to host this group on our home turf- and we hit up many relevant and challenging topics such as:

- Rapidly rising tuition costs for private school students and lobbying for financial aid
- Very public race-related incidents at St. Thomas and Hamline, and what has been done since they occurred
- Safety and emergency-response initiatives each school has taken since the shootings at Virginia Tech
- Organizational structure of Student Governments and ways to make the best use of Student money

This was a great chance for me to get to know more closely the other Student Government Presidents from around the state. Our hope is that we can represent the voice of the private school student around the state, and join together to support this vast group.

If you have any questions or comments about ANY of these topics, feel free to drop me a line: hauger@stolaf.edu!

Peace out,
TyTy

Some great things to come!

Now that week zero and week one are finally done, I can slow down a little and breathe. It's been a crazy last couple of weeks, for sure, but it is really great to be back and meeting so many great people.

I think the highlight of my last two weeks was definitely seeing Ole the Lion get down with his bad self at the "Party in the Pause" during Week One. That Lion can dance!

It's hard to believe that we are already in full swing into a new year. Yet, that is how things always seem to go around here. At first you are gearing up for something new, the next second you are gearing up for the next something new.

So, in the spirit of our calendar-driven-fun-lifestyles around here at Olaf, here are some great things to look forward to from the fine people at the Student Government Association in the next month:

The STUDENT ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE (SAC) is gearing up for Homecoming September 24-30th, all culminating with the Homecoming Football Game vs Gustavus on Saturday at 1 pm. Look forward to a comedian, a poker tournament, and more this packed week!

The BOARD OF REGENTS STUDENT COMMITTEE (BORSC) is busy writing reports from the student body to the Board of Regents for their meeting on campus October 4-5th. They will be gather student input in the next couple of weeks, and meeting with President Anderson as well as other officials.

The POLITICAL AWARENESS COMMITTEE (PAC) will co-sponsoring a panel on immigration and citizenship on October 3rd at 7 pm. Hear from a panel of experts in the field of immigration!

The PAUSE kitchen is officially open, yet the Pause crew is as busy as ever getting ready for the Fall Concert that will go down on October 6th in Skoglund. Curious who it is? Bwah ha ha. Find out next week!

The DIVERSITY CELEBRATIONS COMMITTEE (DCC) will be co-hosting the 2007 Latino Heritage Month Annual Banquet in the Gold Ballroom on October 7th as well as working closely on tons of great events for Latino Heritage Month!

STUDENT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (SAA) will have a hospitality tent set up down at the Football game on Saturday, Sept 29th with free St. Olaf mugs and cider!

VOLUNTEER NETWORK (VN) just held their VN Fair to get people signed up for some great volunteer opportunities in the area and are co-sponsoring an Alumni-Student volunteer project with SAA for Saturday, Sept. 29th. Join alumni and others to held clean up Buckthorn in the Natural Lands from 8:30 - 11:30!

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTEE (SOC), after finishing up organizing the amazing Co-Curricular fair last week, is continuing their hard work of allocating SGA funds to all of the student organizations across campus! Make sure that you attend the student orgs financial training meeting this Wednesday, Sept. 19th at 6:30 in order to get access to SGA org funds!

SENATE will be meeting for the first time Tuesday, Sept. 25th at 6:30 pm in the Boardroom on the 3rd level of Buntrock. All students are welcome to attend!

ELECTIONS are Wednesday, Sept. 19th from 8 am to 8pm. Make sure you vote!

We'll continue to keep you posted on all the great things going on! Have a great week!

Peace,
Tyler

Welcome Class of 2011!

On behalf of the Student Government Association, I'd like to extend the official welcome to St. Olaf for the '07-'08 school year!

It is finally time to move in, get settled, and start a fresh 'Um Ya Ya' kind of year. Enough of the anticipation, enough of the waiting. Let's dive in and just DO this, right? Right.

While Week One will be a great experience, we're not going to lie when we say it is pretty hectic and exhausting. So, here are some things to think about for move-in day for our new class of 2011:

1.) Ole the Lion, our mascot, is your friend. As he roams campus this move-in day, be gentle and give him loving hugs; knowing, now, that he is your new mommy.

2.) Don't be afraid to ask for help at any point. Take advantage of your JC. After being a JC in Hoyme, I know what it is like to be asked a trillion questions; and we love it. That's why we signed up for the job! Don't hesitate to ask anything.

3.) Remember that your parents are most likely having a harder time with move-in day that you are. Look out for them today; give them big hugs and let them know that while you may be excited to move-in, they are still important to you.

4.) Wear sandals to the shower... Enough said...

5.) If you are asked to put down your school e-mail on any St. Olaf related forms, you can just put the beginning part. You don't need to put down the "@stolaf.edu" part. ex: hauger. It'll save you from hand cramps.

6.) Get time to yourself and just breathe. This week is going to be nuts with the amount of new knowledge needing to processed, the amount of people needing their names to be remembered, and the amount of cardboard boxes needing to be put in the "Cardboard Only" bins outside of the res halls. Yet, get some time just to reflect and rest in this new experience by yourself. Grab a smoothie from the Cage, take a walk in the natural lands, go star-gazing on Old Main Hill. Just breathe.

7.) Enjoy this week. Take lots of pictures- it's fun to look back on them.

The Student Government Association is devoted to serving you this week, as well as this entire year. As you will soon find out, SGA is related in pretty much every part of student life, and we look forward to serving you and working with you. So, stop in and say hello! You can find all executive members of SGA in Office of Student Activities (BC 107). It's not a scary place, we promise.

Swing by my and the SGA Vice-President, Ishanaa Rambachan's, office in BC 107A some time this week. Introduce yourself! We'd love to get you involved. If you are looking for ways to get involved this year, give us a call: you can find us at x3323 or e-mail me directly at hauger@stolaf.edu.

I am very excited to have you as part of our community! Have a great move-in day, and again, a warm welcome to the Class of 2011!

Peace,

Tyler Hauger
SGA President

The Prairie Dog Days of Summer

It seems that my time to take over this blog has begun, and while that may be a little intimidating after living in the shadow of President Witt's articulated stylings, I am up for the challenge.

Allow me to introduce myself officially. My name is Tyler Hauger and I am from Bismarck, North Dakota. Now I realize that most people would bat their eyes and turn on the "Sucks to be You" face upon hearing that I am from North Dakota, but I thought this would be a great time to give you some interesting information about the Peace Garden State to show you how wonderful it actually is!:

1.) North Dakota has more registered vehicles than it has residents.

2.) More ducks reproduce in North Dakota wetlands than anywhere in the nation.

3.) The parking meter was invented in North Dakota.

4.) North Dakota is the only state in the nation to never have an earthquake.

5.) If North Dakota seceded from the Union, it would be the world's third strongest nuclear power.

6.) In North Dakota it is unlawful to serve beer and pretzels at the same time in any bar or restaurant.

7.) In 1947 and again, in 1989, North Dakota attempted to change its name simply to “Dakota,” but the Legislature rejected the idea. David Letterman had a top 10 list of new names for the state, and number 1 was "South Canada".

8.) It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on in North Dakota.

and finally...

9.) If you are in a covered wagon, it is legal to shoot an Indian on horseback. That'll show you, General Custer!


Now that you've had an incredible lesson about the vastness of the state, it should be obvious that growing up in such an enchanted home could not be bad at all! Plus, I've made hundreds of friends in the Bison and Prairie Dogs!

The point of this is that I hope you are all having a great vacation at home, still at school, or wherever you are this summer. Value what you have, and never take it for granted. Sometimes even the crazy mundane can be exactly what you need. And NEVER fall asleep with your shoes on in the state of North Dakota. Word.

For me, I am spending my summer out in Glacier National Park in Northwestern, Montana. North Dakota will be back soon, and Olaf is just around the corner.

So stay safe this summer, make quasi-smart decisions, and buckle your safety belt, people!

Peace and Love,
TyTy

It's been toooo long

To all of my loyal readers (aka, my mom),
I apologize that I have not posted in a while. Midterms, spring break, Easter break... life happened.
I have a lot to say, but first off, I'd like to say that we indeed have wonderful staff, faculty and administrators here. Most of us feel that way, but it is easy to complain when we feel we've been wronged.
After spring break, some of my friends and I were in a car accident and had to go to the hospital, miss school, etc. We're all back now, so it's all good. But, the point of this blog is to say that Olaf treated us well. Roz, the dean of students for first-years, was with me at the hospital until 4:00 am when I told her that she really, could go home. The Dean's office also came in and unbunked and rearranged my friends' beds so they didn't have to worry about it when they got back. The Political Science department sent me a Get Well card. The Admissions office sent me a lovely floral arrangement. All of my professors have been willing to work with me on plans so I can graduate and finish my courses. The custodians and Res Life made sure the private bathroom by our pod is clean so that my friends who can't use the showers can use the bathtub. All in all, everyone has been fabulous.
Naturally, the students have been wonderful, but we know our friends are great.
It's crappy that it takes something scary to remind us how great life is sometimes. So, I wanted to make sure that I could use this opportunity to let everyone know that indeed, the Olaf community is great :) um ya ya.
xoxo,
Vanessa

Take a break blog?!

I'm not sure whether I should be offended or flattered that my blog was categorized last week as a blog that is not a part of SGA. Aren't I writing this as the President of SGA?

My blog relates the students to the members of SGA, provides good advice for making good life decisions, talks about what's happening on campus, and other sweet stuff like that. I mean, doesn't PDA's blog do the same thing? Well, not really. But, whatever.

If you want your SGA and St. Olaf news in light-hearted manner, "take a break" with me. If you want uptight news from Nate, the webmaster, you can read his SGA blog in the official SGA section.

xoxo,
Vanessa

P.S. I have no real malice towards Nate. If I did, I could fire him. Moo ha ha.