About Us
Jing Xu, the associate news editor, contributed to this report.
With the presidential campaigns well under way, the primary voting ends tonight, Tuesday March 26 at midnight. Under the slogan “Believe in BC”, Molly McCarthy and Ricky Knapp, both A&S’14, are running for president and vice president. Tim Koch, A&S’14, and Chris "Trugs" Truglio, CSOM’14, are running under the slogan "In Tim and Trugs we Trust". Matt Nacier and Matt Alonsozana, both A&S’ 14, are under the slogan "Forward with U".
Cast your vote here or by logging into your Agora Portal and clicking on UGBC Online Elections under the 'Other Services' tab. Remember to click 'Finish' on the next page after you've selected the candidates you'd like to elect as president and vice president of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College.
Believe in BC
McCarthy and Knapp plan to enhance student experience at BC, emphasizing diversity of student groups and promoting sustainability on campus.
Their platform embodies a plan to make life more convenient for students and more pleasant, for example by expanding the ability to use EagleBucks at nearby businesses such as White Mountain Creamery or El Pelon Taqueria. Other suggestions include placing printers on Lower, using Robsham Theater as a late night movie theater, a 'Plex View' system much like the 'Laundry View' system, and moving Plex class signups to an online registration form to reserve a spot.
Knapp and McCarthy also suggest re-establishing kegs as a senior privilege and re-evaluaing the disciplinary policies with a policy that "keeps students from being bound to a disciplinary level after two semesters of good standing."
On the academic side of things they propose an online 'Registration Resource Center' which would streamline the course search process by providing current syllabi for all courses as well as course reviews comprised of PEPS and the mandatory course evaluations students fill out at the end of each semester. In addition, they propose to implement an academic advisor evaluation system as well as the provision of two advisors for students double majoring--rather than only having an advisor in the student's primary major. They'd also like to "explore ways in which to increase the retention of AHANA faculty."
In terms of diversity and inclusion, Knapp and McCarthy are advocating for a full-time staff person in the Dean of Students office to be solely devoted to providing resources for GLBTQ students as well as for the publication GLBTQ resources on campus. In light of controversial campus incidents and attitudes, the McCarthy-Knapp team would like to be able to respond to each incident and attitude that "perpetuate a culture of ignorance in order to promote solidarity and awareness."
McCarthy-Knapp also would like student input in the design of the new recreation center--a part of BC's 10-year plan--and encourage BC's University Health Services to provide free STI-testing.
Find out more about the McCarthy-Knapp team here.
Cast your vote here.
In Tim and Trugs we Trust
Koch and Truglio plan to establish a Landlord and Realtor Evaluation Profile System--which would 
operate in the same way as PEPs--to provide feedback from fellow students to students looking for off-campus housing. They would like to establish more CSOM minors for A&S students in the areas of marketing, finance, and accounting.
For students in the Lynch School of Education and the Connell School of Nursing, the Koch-Truglio team would like initiate a program to provide pre-paid T passes for students needing to use public transportation to get to their practical training experiences at nearby schools and hospitals. Similarly, they plan to begin a Zipcar program on campus in order to provide more accessible transportation for students living on campus.
On the ALC and GLC front, Koch and Truglio want to include the chairs of the ALC and GLC in all executive council meetings in order to keep AHANA and GLBTQ issues in the conversations about campus-wide issues with administrators.
They'd also like to make it a priority to petition the administration to increase the hiring of AHANA faculty and staff. "This especially has the ability to greatly enhance the learning experience, the social culture, and the guidance opportunities available to all students at BC," Koch and Truglio said.
Student life wise, Koch and Truglio advocate for a fall concert on Shea Field. They also want discounted college nights at venues in Boston with the use of a BC ID--places could include the Fenway Regal Stadium, J.P. Licks, and J. Crew.
Koch and Truglio also want to make sure that everything UGBC does is more transparent by developing positive relationships with the on-campus newspapers, The Heights, Inc., The Observer, and Gavel Media Inc. "To do this, we will send bi-weekly updates to the editors that describe UGBC internal progress in order to promote transparency," they said.
Find out what else the Koch-Truglio team has in store here.
Cast your vote here.
Forward with U
Nacier and Alonsozana’s platform can be stated in three words starting with “C”: Community, Clarity and Creativity.
On improving student life, Nacier and Alonsozana want BC to provide ESPN HD and movie channels like HBO and Showtime. "Watching sporting events and a greater variety of current movies and programs with friends can often be bonding experiences like no other," they said. In addition, the team promises to work on reforming the parking system to see if it can be made more affordable and increase parking availability.
Confronting the dining issues at BC, they say they'd like to increase options for vegan students and return the ability to use the mandatory meal plan at Hillside.
They are all for persevering the Mods as they are "the heart of BC's social culture." And they would like to make taking the Newton bus back to Newton Campus a little more attractive with a Newton Centre stop on the corner of Commonwealth Ave and Centre St. They'd also like to make the buses run until 3AM--just to make life a little easier for those who live on Newton Campus or off campus. Longer running hours would allow these students to use the library until closure time.
Furthermore, Nacier and Alonsozana "wholeheartedly believe that academic advising must be made stronger" because it is a strong indicator of a student's achievement. They want to do this through providing an academic advising center as well as making advising policies more transparent within each major department. In addition, Nacier and Alonsozana think that UGBC can work with the Career Centre to better advertise career resources for students, especially for those not in CSOM.
Marion is a senior and double major in Communication and Economics. She's had a goal in pursuing journalism since high school and has been involved ever since.
In the past, she interned for The New England Center for Investigative Reporting and worked with Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist Rochelle Sharpe on a story published in the Washington Post. She also interned for the West Roxbury-Roslindale Transcript, a local newspaper headed by GateHouse Media New England.
Originally from France, Marion has lived in a total of 6 countries, and now calls Boston her temporary home. She enjoys traveling and so has been able to see a good portion of Europe and Africa, as well as most of North America and Central America. In the future, Marion hopes she'll be traveling the world while writing for National Geographic.
