The Student Government Association appointed new members to its cabinet and said it would make changes to administration policy at its first meeting of the fall semester Wednesday night.
SGA President David Rosen said he would challenge Interim Chancellor and President John Rudley to "freeze tuition for the 2008-2009 school year" as a way to compensate for the 6.9 percent tuition increase approved by the UH System Board of Regents in June.
SGA Vice President Sam Dike said that SGA aims to make tuition more affordable.
Rosen said that professors are trying to make money off students and named psychology professor Richard Kasschau, history professor Thomas O’Brien and botany professor Alfred Loeblich.
"Professor Kasschau is a very charismatic and talented teacher," Rosen said, "but he is also a very talented businessman."
Rosen also said that 50 percent of Kasschau’s class depends on an online text from a Web site that Kasschau owns a stake in. Students are not able to take the online quizzes that their grades depend on without this text, he said, and that O’Brien wrote and published books on sale for $120 that students are required to buy to gain access to essay questions.
"You shouldn’t have to buy essay questions," Rosen said.
Rosen said that Loeblich makes students buy an A+ Review packet and refuses to give students a grade without it.
Senators said they plan to identify professors who coerce students into buying extraneous materials and to prevent professors from doing so.
In addition to plans with textbooks and tuition, SGA Regent Judah Johns said that he hopes to work with The Honors College and Dean of Libraries Dana Rooks and the Student Governing Board to improve the funds for the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library to transform it to a 24-hour location for students.
Johns also said that he wants to change the state legislation policy that limits withdrawals from classes to six in a student’s career by working with Provost Donald Foss and other University officials.
The SGA also elected communication junior Kayley Sanders as director of SGA’s public relations after the resignation of former director Natasha Patel.
Sanders said that one of the main goals during the semester was to let the students know what SGA is and how the organization helps students.
Other nominations included economics senior Alejandro Capetillo to CLASS seat No. 8 and social work graduate Van Hua to At-Large Graduate No. 1, which were each passed by the SGA senate.
SGA’s budget for the 2008 school year of $186,250 was also approved during the meeting.
