PASS THAT BILL!

 JASMINE HARRIS | MANAGING EDITOR 

Tonight, the Society of Afrikan American Culture (SAAC) will be hosting a program entitled “PASS THAT BILL!” The program will provide students with political awareness on what they can do to make a difference in the political process. Also, the purpose is to fulfill the mission of SAAC to be the political voice of the university.

SAAC came up with the idea for the program during their last general body meeting. The SAAC executive board discussed the American Jobs Act with the general body following President Barack Obama’s visit to campus to speak on the bill. SAAC also discussed the importance of knowing Congress and who our representatives are. One of the members of the general body suggested the idea of calling representatives and sending letters during a SAAC meeting, and the idea developed from there into a educational program the organization would provide to all students.

Students will learn more about the bill, including how it presents the grand possibility that the nation’s economy will be boosted, and provide a better situation for all American’s economically. Students will be encouraged to call representatives, write letters and send e-mails to help President Obama pass the bill that may salvage our country.

“As a political voice, we want to make sure that all students are politically aware, and that we want to make sure that students are making the right choices when it comes to elections. We also want to make sure that students are able to get good jobs when they graduate, as well as make sure that our economy improves,” said Jazzmine Small, the president of SAAC. She mentioned how it was important for students to know what’s going on, since political decisions affect us all as students, even in indirect ways. “If we don’t know what’s going on we don’t know what to do when it comes to finding jobs after graduation and will struggle after graduation in building a stable economic base.”

The act may affect Americans in countless ways; it could affect the families of students and even affect schools. Over the past six years, many teachers have been laid off, and the jobs act could restore many of those jobs that were lost. Not to mention that it will also provide jobs for the working classes, so that they will be able to progress to even higher positions in their fields.

“We want to urge students to do their research and find out what’s going on in our surrounding community. We only decide to vote in the bigger elections, but we must realize that the mid term elections matter,” stated Debra Buck, the vice president of SAAC. “The choices that we made during the mid term election are effecting us right now. The senators and representatives voted in determine voting districts, State bills, and make decisions about things that effect us in our day to day lives.”

SAAC is also looking forward to working with other organizations of the African American Student Advisory Council (AASAC) in the future to bring awareness to campus about many issues facing our community. They desire to become a united front.