I think one issue that is apparent on campus relating to diversity is our very non-diverse faculty. I think it is hard for students to feel the university is making attempts at having students of all races, religions, sexual orientations, ethnicities, etc. feel more comfortable and accepted on this campus when their teachers are no more diverse than their peers. While I may not be able to change this directly, I feel it is something important to discuss and would be interested in creating an event that would allow for people to bring their thoughts and ideas about this to the public so as to perhaps make the administration hear what we have to say.

One thing I that I think is extremely important in ending sexual violence on this campus is continuing the S.E.E.D.S program. The more people that become educated and gain the techniques for ending such violence mean that less and less women will become victims. I went through the S.E.E.D.S training myself and feel that it truly has the power to affect this campus in a big way. The people at the V.I.P. center have truly created a way to make people think, talk, and understand things differently and are working slowly but surely to change our culture, and with that there is no better way to promote safety.

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I think one action that has already been taken to help voter participation is online voting. I know the freshmen elections in the fall had better voter turn-out than it had in the past thanks to being able to do it online. As far as general elections, I think its going to be people holding others responsible that will bring the best improvement. I know I am looking forward to the election this November and I make sure everyone around me knows it, and knows how important it is. I feel if we start holding each other responsible, then more people may actually make it to the polls on that winter Tuesday.

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I think in many ways I have already started to make an effort in understanding the diverse people that are on our campus. I have started to attend many different events on this campus that are put on by the various groups in order to gain a better understanding of what the people on this campus truly want. For example, I attended an event put on by the MSA to help raise money for Bangladesh that was hit by a cyclone last November. In doing this I stepped out of my social circle and met many new extraordinary people that made me find a new understanding to that culture and the people of the Muslim faith. While steps like these may seem small, I feel that the more events I attend, the more people I can reach and can therefore start to make headway in better representing this student body.

One of the biggest things I think we can do is provide more recycling bins all around campus. I know on the second and third floors of the classroom building there are only recycling bins for paper. I think that people will take more advantage of recycling opportunities if they are more visual and apparent on campus. I also think teachers should be more willing to use online books and give readings online so that less paper is being used. While I know that textbooks are often necessary, there are more and more online resources becoming available, and UK should take advantage of them as much as possible to keep things green.

My personally response to logging Robinson Forest is that it just should not be done. Simple as that. All anyone has to do is take an ecology class (which is required be the university for all students) to know that destroying trees is the last thing we should be doing to our environment. However, if there were a number of people who thought differently than I did, but wanted their voices to be heard, I would be willing to pass their message on to the higher administration because it is my job as a senator to be that voice, to be that liaison for the students, no matter if I agree with the message or not.

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