James George is a junior majoring in business administration, with a focus on marketing and finance.
Oregon Daily Emerald: Why did you decide to run for student senate seat 6?
George: First of all, because it was a two-year position, and since I am going to be here for two years I figured that I could use some of the skills that I’ve learned thus far for this position. And finance is something that is of interest to me. You know, ideally, one day I would like to work in New York City in some type of financial aspect. I’ve worked with the treasurer in (Delta Sigma), making sure that we stick with our budget and try to work within the means that we have. For a self-funded group, that’s kind of hard. Taking that to a whole other level is something that I am interested in.
Emerald: How will you figure out how to spend the surplus?
George: Basically, in a sense, what I would like to figure out is what they have done in the past. I know that in our fraternity, if we ever have the surplus, we have the roll-over and then people would petition to use some of that excess funds. Or it would just roll over into our huge savings account, which will go toward buying a house since we don’t own our house right now. But in a situation like this, if we have excess money it would seem almost, in a sense, silly if we just kept on stock-pilling it and weren’t using it. So if we were to either…I really don’t even know what the possibilities are of redistributing it back or just giving other groups, the alternative to use some of that money that is there, but is not being used.
Emerald: How would you interact with student groups as a senator?
George: Well, I think being part of IFC has given me an inside step in a sense to the other organizations that are within the EMU. I’ve worked with the people up here at advertising like Mike Kirk and lots of other different groups like the BSU. Other groups that would need representation and I think being a group leader has helped me become someone that could be a representative for all of the student groups that are housed within this building.
Emerald: What would be some methods you would use to stay in contact with them? Would it be a daily thing for you? Would you use e-mail or go down and visit them or…?
George: I would like to do all of that. With IFC you have office hours just like you would have with senate, and so, in a sense, using those office hours , those 15 hours a week plus… For greek life , you have to have 4 office hours a week and I probably put in 20. So going above and beyond and if people need me, I am more than willing to meet. I think that the advent of e-mail is a great way to bounce ideas off and inform people. But also personal interaction is necessary. If they don’t have a face to put with a name, they probably would be apathetic about doing anything. So I think that doing all of those to the best capabilities my body could handle.
Emerald: What are the most important issues facing the students you represent?
George: One of the biggest issues I would be faced with is the lack….Some offices are gigantic, some aren’t. And I’m sure that some people are either busting at the seams for their space and some people aren’t. And I think making sure people have adequate representation, getting the funding they need, that they have the space that they need to either have the group grow and be more of a presence on campus or basically use the resources that they have better.
Emerald: What is the most important thing you should know in order to deal with the budget process?
George: I think one of the important things is being able to work within your means. I had to do the IFC budget for Greek Life this year and trying to figure out what we have, what is the least amount that we can actually work with and going from there. I mean, nobody wants to see their incidental fees skyrocket just because every single group wants a million dollars for their programs. So, working with people, helping people to stick within their budgets, having a plan, sticking to that goal of not having a deficit, and spending to the money that they have not spending any more. It’s only going to hurt them in the end if they’re going into debt. So hopefully getting them to stick within their means and work within those means, and if those means aren’t necessarily representative for the group they have now and if they need more money, trying to help them to get ways so that they may ask for more money on the future.
Emerald: What is the yearly deadline for senate to establish budgeting benchmarks?
George: Is this a quiz?
Emerald: It’s kind of something you should know. It’s kind of a big date. (Repeat question)
George: Are you going to give me a hint?
Emerald: No
George: Oh, harsh. So what was it again?
Emerald: (Repeat question)
George: I’m going to have to go with the end of spring term.
Emerald: (Answer)
George: Well, see if they were doing by the end of spring term, we’d just get this whole thing streamlined.
Emerald: What’s the most important part of section 5 of the student senate rules and why?
George: I don’t know. This is more than a quiz.
Emerald: It has to do with …well, do you know what the Green Tape is? Basically, there’s a section in there
George: I haven’t read the Green Tape, obviously.
Emerald: (Repeat question)
George: I would have to guess on this one, like the last one. Let’s see here — I have no clue.
Emerald: Basically section 5 outlines what your duties are as a senator.
George: (Laughs)
Emerald: What are your hopes? What’s one goal you would have as a senator?
George: When I was a freshman, and even when I was a sophomore, I had no clue what the senate was. I mean, I think that the senate on campus does a great job — they do a lot. I also don’t think they are marketed to the larger university campus as a whole. I think that hopefully by being a good finance senator and getting to know different people and getting to reach out to people who might not necessarily know what senate does, get more people involved. This year they had a record number of people apply, and that’s something that we need to keep up. So, reaching out there, getting senate to be something a lot of people want to get involved with because it is a good thing to get involved with. It’s a good resource to them, to use the resources on campus.