By the time that you read this, O’week will be over, which means that it is now time to get your head down for the seriousness of Uni. I can’t believe how much fun I had during O’week (to be honest, yes I can… I always do). They’ll be no sleep for me though, as the exec and I are back at the helm steering the ship and making sure things are going well for you all.
This Friday March 6th is International Women’s Day, which reminds me that we are currently looking out for a new exec member. Our Women’s Welfare position is in need of a female who is interested in women’s rights and the general welfare of students on campus. Also coming up in the Exec’s calendar is the ASA Special General Meeting, which is on Wednesday, March 18th. Annie Zhang, your Education Vice President, is also looking out for Class Reps, which you’ll have no doubt have either read about in your Orientation packs or have witnessed in action in your previous classes. As a class rep since I arrived at Massey, I urge you to stand up and nominate yourself for the position. We need students like you to let us know how well your classes are going because unfortunately for us we can’t be in every class on campus.
While you guys were having loads of fun in the past few weeks like getting to know where your classes were and possibly getting lost along the way, I’ve been doing some rather exciting things too. I’ve been down to Palmerston North for a MUSAF meeting. This is a forum where all of the student Presidents from Massey and Student Council Representatives get together and talk about how we will be going forward for 2009. As the MUSAF Chairperson, it is my responsibility to make sure this forum progresses positively for every student at Massey. I also went to the Academic Board Meeting which is an interesting board where we discuss and then advise the Massey University Council on matters relating to courses of study or training, awards, and other academic matters. I went to the Sport and Recreation Board meeting where we approved the first round club of funding for 2009 as well as the Graduation Board Meeting which, we have already started planning for later in the year (It should be inspirational). The last and final thing worth noting was that I have been down to Wellington for the SJS (Student Job Search) trying to make sure that the organisation is working and also trying to push for more jobs in Auckland, I can say that there will be a marketing campaign to push for more jobs in the region. So check out www.sjs.co.nz, I wish you all the best for finding a job.
I’m sure many of you will be getting sick of seeing me; I know that during O’week I have seen many of you more than once. I hope that it’s not just me talking to you all the time this year though, so please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me president@asa.ac.nz. Like I said last issue of Satellite, the 2009 Exec will be out and about the Main campus on Wednesdays, so come along and pop by and say hi. I know I managed to get to see some of the new students’ from the Universities accommodation, the mature students’, the scholarship recipients, and students’ with disabilities and anyone who came to the gigs during O’week. I was there and so was L&P. (Sorry I’m writing this on a late Sunday night, I guess it’s time to go home).
Hope to see around.
Cheers
Rawa Karetai
ASA President