By Billy S. Garland

In the current economy there is a great deal of discussion about value. What is the dollar worth? This question resonates as strongly for University of Louisville students as it does for investors on Wall Street. This is partly due to the fact that a portion of student tuition and fees goes to finance the Student Government Association.
When asked what students’ money was getting them from the SGA, O.J. Oleka, student government president, hesitated before responding.
 “Well, I would say that it is getting them adequate representation from their student government,” said Oleka.
To better define the concept of adequate representation, in recent years SGA has sent members of its executive staff to the American Student Government Association’s National Student Government Summit in Washington, D.C.
“It was beneficial because we were able to bounce ideas off of other SGA’s,” said Chief of Staff Andrew Carroll. “Still, it’s difficult to bounce ideas off of other schools, because their situation and their SGA may be completely different. It may not have been a good use of money.”
This year, at the suggestion of the former administration, U of L sent five members of the SGA to the convention, held Sept. 30-Oct. 3. Both Oleka and Carroll admit that the trip was rather expensive, but both insist that every possible attempt was made to keep costs down.
“We did everything we could to save money,” said Carroll. “It’s the students’ money, so we didn’t want to waste it.”
According to Carroll, it cost nearly $400 a person just for the hotel accommodations and air travel. That doesn’t include the convention cost of roughly $460 for each individual, according to the American Student Government Association’s Web site. However, Oleka explained that the money did not come from this year’s budget.
“What we tried to do was use leftover funds from last year,” said Oleka. “The way it works is that, we took over in May, but the fiscal year doesn’t end until the first of July. So we have the money that last year’s SGA didn’t spend. It’s almost like transition funds. To make sure we didn’t spend this year’s money, we signed up early so that we could use these funds. We’re trying to spend money wisely and not spend it frivolously.”
While both Oleka and Carroll anticipate that members of the next administration will go to a leadership conference, it is doubtful that it will be the American Student Government Association’s National Summit.
“I really don’t know why they suggested it last year,” said Carroll. “As far as getting what you paid for, I don’t know that we will make the same recommendation for next year.
Carroll believes that differences, like this one, from the former administration have led to a more efficient and responsible SGA.
“Without condemning the past administration, there is a notion of, ‘Well we have x amount of dollars, so we have to spend it,'” said Carroll. “If you don’t spend it on conferences, you can use it for other programs that benefit students.”
The current SGA administration, under president Oleka, came into the school year with the intention of tackling a variety of issues, ranging from student/SGA communication to student healthcare.  This daunting agenda was only lengthened with the passing of the smoking ban. Despite his insistence that SGA should not be held accountable for the ban, Oleka admits that it has been difficult for the SGA to pick a side on the issue.
“It’s like abortion,” said Oleka. “I mean, honestly, on this campus some people either love it or they hate it.”
Oleka says that the SGA will only advocate the ban if the transition is made smoothly and easily for students.
“[This] means resources for students trying to quit, a reasonable enforcement policy, and inclusion in where designated areas will be and how long they will be there,” said Oleka.
 In order to facilitate the work of the administration, in this area as well as others, the promise of increasing communication with students has been made a priority.
“The main promise that our SGA wanted to do was increase communication with students,” said Oleka. “This allows us to go into meetings with the Provost and say, ‘This is what students are saying right now.'” He also explained that this same system worked in reverse as well. They are also able to communicate with the students about what the administration is saying.
“It is real-time communication, which I think is unprecedented in comparison to what we have been able to do in the past,” said Oleka.
Despite the increased communication, not all students seem to be getting reached.
“I don’t really know anything about the SGA,” said freshman mechanical engineering major Forest Williams. “I know that O.J. Oleka is the president, or something like that.”
Some students, like junior biology major Bryan Wessel,  know some about what the student government is doing, and are quick to add that it doesn’t directly affect them.
“I went to the SGA Senate meeting a couple of weeks ago,” said Wessel. “They didn’t really talk about anything that concerned me. I was there to get my [Recognized Student Organization] approved. I don’t think they have done anything important or anything that impacts me.”