Vote JoJo Dodd for Student Association President

would be $5 per semester, per student. This fee would allow Mississippi State to join with the majority of the other universities in our region in the push for continuation and expansion of student oriented organizations and services through secured funding. As the proposal makes its way through the IHL Board, it has my full support.

- Expanded appropriations for student organizations benefits everyone. The Student Association provides appropriations as a service to students and student organizations across campus. We should expand the service to better fund more organizations. Additionally, we should make a concerted effort to promote the availability of these funds to all student organizations.


- Bulldog Bash should be expanded and invite more student input in bookings. Bulldog Bash, the largest free outdoor concert in the state, is the biggest event the Student Association produces each year. Booking artists is a complicated business. So while just taking a vote on who students want to see would be unrealistic, taking polls about the genre students prefer would help in pursuing artists that more students would enjoy. Additionally, expanding Bulldog Bash by looking into a less confined location and exploring additional sponsorship opportunities would improve the concert experience for everyone.

- Mississippi State's only safe-ride program should cover home-game weekends. Cowbell Cabs, the free student taxi service, has been a huge success. But even after ensuring lots of people got home safely over the past year, it's easy to see that the program could be improved. Cowbell Cabs should expand its services to operate on home-game weekends. ADVOCACY:

- We should work to end the continual parking price increases. Over the past 6 years, student (as well as faculty/staff) parking prices have seen a yearly increase. It's a complex issue, but the only increase I would support would be to directly pay for additional parking on campus. One way to work toward that goal is to have everyone who parks on campus begin to contribute to Parking Services. Each home game, MSU Athletics takes control of the bulk of the parking on campus. However, even though they utilize and sell parking on campus, they don't pay anything to support the building and/or maintenance of the lots. That cost is paid exclusively by parking decal purchasers. I will work with university administration, faculty and athletics to negotiate a plan for athletics to begin paying for use of gameday parking on campus. While this won't be a silver bullet to avoiding increases in your parking prices, it will be a positive step in that direction.

- The Student Association is more than an event planning organization

The overarching purpose of the Student Association is to improve the student experience on campus. Events go a long way toward that end, but are not the complete picture of an effective student government. Representing students' views and opinions to university administration and faculty is a vital part of our role, and I am committing to refocus our efforts on policy and student advocacy. This doesn't mean we should do less events, it means we should also work to be a louder, more bold voice for students. INCLUSION:

- The Student Association should resemble our campus: Diverse! The Student Association works everyday to better the student experience on campus. This is not a job reserved for some elite group of students. Because the SA represents ALL students, there should be a concerted effort to reach out to ALL students and make them aware that their voices matters and their input and dedicated efforts are welcome in the Student Association. We should branch out and reach into communities of people that are not currently actively involved in the work of the Student Association. To accomplish this goal won't be easy and it's not an issue that will be solved overnight, but we must strive to create an SA that represents all students and student populations.

- Communication is the key to engagement and involvement growth. It all boils down to communication. Through focusing on communicating these four points and through an overarching strategy of presenting a holistic picture of the Student Association on a daily basis, we can better educate and invite input from the entire campus population.