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by Isaac Hoffman

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Stugo Team Accomplishes 'Firsts'

Just this week, I sat in my office after our weekly Stugo meeting on Wednesday feeling pretty frustrated. You know that feeling when you wake up on the day of a test that you had forgotten about till that moment? That is the feeling that I had been experiencing time after time this year.

Everything that came up in our meeting was brand new, and we had no time to prepare. I felt as if I were in the Amazon jungle leading my team into quicksand after quicksand. But that is how you learn. Once you go the wrong way, you learn to not go that way and to pave a new road. That is the nature of our work this year. We get to pave the way for all the teams after us, and in the meantime, make this year matter.

Despite the wall we find ourselves facing in getting off the ground, the amazing people that are on my team have achieved success. In this year of firsts, the events and activities committee has put on its first event: the fall banquet.

The clubs and involvement committee have their first Stugo-sponsored club: Acting on AIDS. The advocacy and relations committee brought its first student proposal to the administration: more student-led chapels. The committee is working with administration to make it a reality as soon as spring semester.

Another first is representing each class and residency. For the first time, we have senators from all four classes working together and representing every residency. We have done "townhalls" for commuters, Memorial, Aldrich, and Pacific houses to better represent the students and put on events that engage each of the communities.

Stugo is also working on communicating in new ways to the student body. This year we are on Facebook, we have a blog, and we are working on a Web site.

Another huge first this year is our posting of Stugo finances for everyone to see. We post our finance report monthly on the bulletin board and our other forms of media.

All of this fits under trying to be more visible. We do this because there are opportunities to make change, to put on events, and start clubs. Stugo is here for you.

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