UNION ELECTIONS ‘11: Get to know Build BU

In light of Student Union elections next week, The Daily Free Press is publishing stories about each of the three slates running for the 2011-12 school year. Today’s story features members from Build BU.

Unifying the Boston University community and improving communication with the administration are among the goals of Build BU, one of the three slates running to be next year’s Student Union.

In an interview with The Daily Free Press, members of Build BU said the slate’s platform is based on strengthening the continuity of Union, providing a more reliable BU shuttle system, improving sustainability on campus and further integrating off-campus students into the BU community.

Union’s Vice President of Internal Affairs Howard Male, a junior in the School of Management and School of Hospitality Administration, said he is running for president in hopes of maintaining the momentum of current Union members.

“We really want to continue all the work that’s happened so far this year,” Male said. “All four of us are already involved in the Student Union and other leadership positions around campus that have already helped us network with departments we will have to eventually talk with.”

Members of Build BU said they want to establish relationships with the administration that prompt discussions rather than arguments, Male said. By negotiating, members of the administration will have a better understanding of Union proposals, he said.

“Protesting is a much more defensive and a less receptive way to propose something,” Male said. “Instead, you get a negative connotation which does not help the students achieve what they hope for.”

SMG freshman Alex Staikos, the slate’s candidate for vice president, said he believes that all students deserve the right to make their views heard by the administration.

“I envision a town-hall, or coffee and [conversation] type gathering,” Staikos said. “It would be sponsored on a set date monthly where all students can discuss their concerns in front of the e-board and administrators.”

Slate members also stressed the importance of uniting both on and off-campus students into one community. Male said their initiative is to work with housing so that all full-time undergraduates can access the dorms and the study spaces within these areas.

“Many of these students say that once they go off campus, they stop hearing about events and resources,” Male said. “They begin to feel like they are segregated from the campus and we want to make sure they are still connected to BU.”

College of Arts and Sciences freshmen Sophie Miller, the candidate for secretary, and Jen DePiero, the candidate for treasurer, said one major goal they are working toward is getting 24-hour study spaces on campus.

“Ideally, we would want the first floor of Mugar to be open 24 hours,” DePiero said. “Since it requires a lot of resources and staffing, we would realistically want 1019 and Hojo to be renovated study spaces that would also be open to off-campus students.”

The Build BU slate said on its website that its members’ previous involvement in the Student Union and knowledge of how the governmental body functions are important assets.

“The four of us are all running because we know that we have a lot of collective experience in all aspects of what the Student Union does,” Staikos said. “We realize that a change in administration brings enough challenges, and to really be able to act on behalf of the student body and advocate for it, the transition process must be as simple as possible. That’s exactly where we come in.”