Members of the Student Senate smile merrily at their meeting.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             By Erik Squire

Please contact us, your Student Body Government. You can reach me, your Student Body Rep, at: eriktsquire@.smccme.edu, or for more information regarding the Student Senate, contact Student Senate Advisor, Shane Long, by visiting him at the CeSIL office or by E-mail: slong@smccme.edu.-CeSIL

In any thriving community, collaboration of the many takes place. Citizens who care will come together and make decisions towards the betterment of their society. When the community is too large for everyone to join in on the decision making, they often choose/elect someone to represent their opinions for them. The participation of the citizen does not end there however; they must continuously keep informed of the choices that are being made on their behalf. The Citizens must also ensure that their representative is communicating the needs of the general public. They do so by consistently connecting with their representatives and voicing their desires.

SMCC may be a commuter school, but we are also a “community” college. Therefor we should operate no differently than any other community. We already have a senate in place, the Student Senate, and we also have speakers in the senate to represent us. In fact, some of us put these people in their senate seats. Just like the rest of society in the free world, we have a say in what is talked about in these senate meetings. To be a thriving collective of student citizens, we too should take advantage of our right to make decisions!

For some of you this is your first semester, and for others, maybe you still aren’t all that aware of what the Student Senate does. This is understandable due to the fact that the Student Senate isn’t yet as big a presence on campus as it should be. So please, take a second and learn a little about the Student Senate, it is described below by CeSIL.
Student Senate is the student government of Southern Maine Community College.

It is the mission of the Student Senate to provide responsive and effective leadership for the student body, to promote the general welfare and the engagement of students in the life of the college and the community, and to preserve a representative form of government. Student Senate is open to all students, advocates for the rights and concerns of students and supports and promotes the free exchange of ideas.

The Student Senate is involved in the following:
•Making decisions and implementing ideas regarding college policy and student life.
•Managing a large portion of the money collected from the Student Activity Fee which are used to fund student organizations and student activities.
•Overseeing clubs and other student organizations.
•Planing and running activities for the student body.
•Advocating for the student body students regarding issues that are of concern to them.

This is only my second semester here at SMCC and it is already evident to me that the Student Senate is sadly one of the most underutilized resources on campus. Please don’t take this valuable asset for granted; own it! It is our right and great calling as students to speak our opinion of what we want to see done for the student body. Our college entreats you to share your ideas, concerns, and solutions for this school. Do it for you, but what’s more, do it for the benefit of our community.

“Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.”

— Harry Emerson Fosdick