It's time for a new Duke Student Government that listens to Duke students.
Our goals are simple. We'll fund student groups, fix student problems and bring students' voices to the administration. Of course we're going to work from past successes. We brought you the Brightleaf Bus and the new LaSalle route. We brought you the climbing wall and Wilson Gym TVs. We brought you the Dillo patio and the Link: the new basement of Perkins with sweet technology. But more importantly, we've always supported time-honored Duke traditions: burning benches, K-Ville and drinking in the Blue Zone.
This year we want to accomplish even better projects. Here are the big three: first, we want Duke students to have access to legal advice on campus at minimal cost. Second, we want a bus tracking system. We'll have displays at the stops and you can see where the buses are online, even on your cellphone. Third, we want to bring ZipCars to campus. Rent a car by the hour: All you need is a driver's license.
Most importantly, we want to increase funding for the amazing things already happening on campus. With this year's budget, we anticipate having to refuse at least $60,000 in great programming requests. We fund important events from Awaaz and Greek Week to Kville and Springternational. We fund vital campus organizations from the Black Student Alliance and Intramural Sports to the Undergraduate Publications Board. Under our current financial model, we cannot fund many of the requests we are receiving. We don't want to limit the great things that students do on our campus.
So we propose a simple solution. Let's increase the student activities fee by $25 per semester for the next four semesters. This money will go to your club, your event, your Duke. Help Duke Student organizations thrive: Vote yes on the Sept. 15 referendum. Because, unlike with tuition price hikes, you'll actually see where your money is going.
Jordan Giordano, DSG President
Sunny Kantha, Executive Vice President
Chelsea Goldstein, Vice President of Academic Affairs
Mike Lefevre, Vice President of Athletics and Campus Services
Andrew Brown, Vice President of Durham and Regional Affairs
Amanda Tong, Vice President of Inter-Community Council
Lauren Maisel, Vice President of Student Affairs
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