TLR: Is Southeastern at all what you had expected?
Takewell: Southeastern was actually more than I expected. I never imagined that I’d get involved like I did. I didn’t realize that there was so much to college life, and Southeastern really does offer a lot of that to its students.
What is it about Southeastern that you love?
I love everything about Southeastern. I love that you can talk to your teachers and have one on one conversations and relationships with them, and it really helps with your education. I also like that you see a familiar face every day because you recognize someone every time you walk through the halls or through different buildings. I also just like that we’re small and have spirit, and you can see that through the different organizations on campus.
When and why did you decide to get involved in SGA?
I got involved with SGA my freshman year because a couple of women in my sorority were in charge of the Freshman Leadership Council. They really encouraged me to do it, and I guess I was just hooked after that.
All of the newly elected SGA Executives are involved in the Greek Community. Do you believe SGA makes itself exclusive to Greek students because of the high percentage of SGA officers who are Greek?
I think that yes, it has been noticeable that Greeks are in charge of SGA and run it, but I think that recently they’ve tried to diversify it and find other people who can offer more feedback, more information, more insight and ideas into how to make the Student Government Association more well-rounded to the student population as a whole.
Since the Greek Community is so small, do you think it creates a struggle for SGA when the majority of them are Greek, but the average Southeastern student is an undergraduate commuter?
I think it does kind of relate to the struggle. I think the Greeks don’t really know how to approach the non-Greeks because not being involved is kind of alien to them. We have to understand how to get people who aren’t involved to want to be involved on their campus and the decisions being made. I can definitely see that being a struggle.
What is your platform as chief justice?
As chief justice, I really just want to make Southeastern’s campus more aware of the parking policies and procedures as well as to restrict how many tickets they are giving out. I feel like lately people just don’t understand why they can get a ticket. There are so many different little rules. One of the things that I really want to do is something like a fake parking ticket, where every car on campus the first couple days of school gets this little flyer on their car and it says, ‘What are the most parking violations given for? How can you prevent getting a parking violation? And what do you do when you get a parking ticket?’ because a lot of people don’t know.
In detail, what do you specifically plan on doing while in office?
As far as parking goes, I really want to incorporate a traffic court and for that the panel would be the justices and myself. You would be able fill out your appeal online and submit to ‘Come to Traffic Court.’ If we approve you for that, then you can come and not argue it but explain what happened, give evidence and then the parking court would deliberate and give a verdict that day. It would also be open to the public so that they can come and see what kind of parking violations get appealed and what kinds don’t. It’s just another way to educate Southeastern’s campus as a whole. On the election side of things, I’d like to see some kind of incentive for those who vote like an “I voted” button or sticker or something like that. I know a lot of times people get annoyed when they’re harassed to vote so this would be a way for you to be proud that you voted and a way that they’ll quit harassing you hopefully.
Can you explain further this parking board?
How it would work is that you would get a ticket, and what you do is go onto the online appeal and fill it out. Then it would be an option that you could either just fill it out and let the natural course take its way, or you could click ‘I want to be recommended for traffic court.’ We’ll review it, and if we think it’s something that is legitimate, we would let them come.
Why does parking continue to be a problem at Southeastern?
I think it has a lot to do with the renovations and which is a great thing. We should be excited about that, but it does kind of make people upset when they see parking lots taken away for work and construction. I know people see the faculty and staff [parking], and they’re like, ‘Why do they have so much parking?’ I really think it just comes down to being educated on where you can’t park and where you can. I feel like there are a lot of parking lots that don’t charge students to park there, so if you can’t find a spot on campus, there’s places close by where you can park anyway. I just think that people need to be more informed about that and informed about how much parking there actually is on campus.
As chief justice, one of your duties is to handle parking policy and concerns. If a student parks in a handicap parking spot, they will be fined $275. Blocking loading zones, service drives, sidewalks, crosswalks, and/or handicapped access areas will cost you $100. Do you believe these rates are fair or should they be adjusted?
I’ve looked into this a little bit, and I think that there probably is room for improvement for some of these things. Some of them do seem a little outrageous, but then again for handicapped, you shouldn’t park there because you know that somebody needs it and the spot needs to be accessible to them. It’s not fair, but I think that would be a lot of me working with campus police to figure out what we can do to make it better and to make it more appropriate for college students especially since a lot of us are broke college kids. I also think what could be done is more awareness like, ‘look, you cannot park here’ or signs that say, ‘Do not park.’
Should more noticeable signs and brighter color lines be looked into for spots where students aren’t allowed to park?
I definitely think that it should be looked into. I think that it needs to be clearer about where you can park and where you can’t. I know that’s in your [Student Handbook], but honestly, not a lot of people read it. We need to have it visible when you’re parking to say that you can’t park here. I don’t know if that means the lines need to be repainted or we need to install little plaques for the signs, but something definitely needs to be done about those parking spots that are iffy or kind of in the gray area where you’re not really sure because I know that there are also those other parking spots where it looks like it’s two but it’s really one and it’s a little half space but some people can fit there so they do it, and then they get a ticket and they’re upset. Definitely more signs and more visible parking policies need to be put in place.
Do you plan on expanding parking?
I’ve thought about looking into it, but I don’t know if there were anywhere to put it because I know we have a lot of the green areas, but we have to keep that to keep our campus looking pretty and it’s also monuments and that kind of stuff. It’s kind of difficult because we’re kind of in this little area right in the middle of town, and it’s hard to make spots without taking something away.
Should the university reduce the amount of parking spots for faculty and add additional parking spots for students?
The trouble with faculty parking is that faculty/staff, sometimes there are a lot of people there, and sometimes there’s not because they have different times for their classes and that kind of stuff. It’s difficult to determine how many spots they actually need. If we take too many [parking spots] away then they’re not going to have anywhere to park, and it’s just going to be a hassle. It’s going to be a headache either way, but I definitely think that’s something that I do want to look into because like students I’ve seen the empty faculty lots and you’re just like ‘This is a waste.’ I’ve discussed it with my brother, who was a past chief justice, and he’s said the same thing. He’s said ‘Well, sometimes they’re full and sometimes they’re not, so it just depends on what time you’re looking.
The appeals process is a bit of a hassle and can take up a lot of time and be drawn out. Do you believe the appeals process for parking tickets should be simpler and easier?
It probably could, and I think a lot of people need to realize that it’s there. A lot of people say ‘How do I appeal a ticket? Do I have to go to the parking office? Do I have to do this? Do I have to do that?’ and I say ‘No, it’s online. It’s on your Leonet.’ I think it definitely could be simplified, but if you simplify it too much then you’re always going to have those cases where it doesn’t fit into your simplified version. It’s something that can be looked into; I mean anything can be improved. I can definitely look into that and see what changes could be made to make it more efficient and easier on the user.
Should the time constraints of parking be adjusted?
I think that Friday parking could be adjusted, definitely. I know it’s after 12:30 p.m. on Fridays, but it could probably be all day because there aren’t that many students on campus, and there aren’t that many faculty on campus so they could probably do away with some of those time constraints. As far as the Monday through Thursday [time constraints], I agree with it because if you don’t do that then spots are just going to be taken by random. We definitely need those for the busy hours when people are on campus and going to class.
SGA is run for and by the students. Why is it that so many students are not aware of what SGA does?
If campus is just a commuter school, then people just come to school and they leave. They don’t stick around, pay attention to the signs, pay attention to and like the Facebook page and follow the Twitter. What we really need to do is target those commuter students and find out how to get them plugged in and aware of all the great services that SGA is trying and wants to offer them, and then try to get their feedback in return so we can service them better. I think it’s just the commuter mentality that students have which is that they just come to school and go home and that’s it. I think we just need to plug them in.
Should SGA be cut back when it is inefficient?
I wouldn’t necessarily say cut back because I think that it’s growing. If you look at things such as the Big Event, you can see how it’s grown from 200 participants to 800 within the last three years. People are starting to realize, and I feel like the campus is starting to understand what it means to be involved. I wouldn’t say that cutting us back would be a good idea right now since a lot of things are growing.
What do you specifically plan on doing to get in touch with the student body?
I just definitely want to make myself aware and approachable to the campus. I want people to know who I am. I want them to know that they can approach me about things for SGA and parking. I think that’s what is really going to help. If we get visible to the student body and especially those students who aren’t as involved as others, they’ll start to give us their feedback, and they’ll start to understand what SGA is and understand what their money is working towards and all of the services that we can offer them.
Should SGA be more open when conducting business and should executives’ candidates be more open about their organization/background information when running for office?
I think it is appropriate. That’s one thing why I really wanted to push for the traffic court because it would be publicized to the campus to come and see how SGA makes their decisions and how they appeal tickets and how they conduct the running of those meetings. It could only be beneficial for people to be able to sit in on meetings and see how things work so they can see how to get involved and how their money is being put to use.
And also with Executive candidates, do you find it important for the student body to truly know who they are voting for?
I do think that’s important because I think that they need to know why they’re voting for and who they want in that position. Everything you’ve done in the past speaks for the type of leader you are going to be for the university. They should be able to kind of know you in a sense. They should be able to have that information readily available.