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The North Wind

The North Wind

The North Wind

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Ryley Wilcox
Ryley Wilcox
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I found my passion for journalism during my sophomore year of college, writing articles here and there for the North Wind. Since joining the staff this past semester as the news writer, I have been able...

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The North Wind is an independent student publication serving the Northern Michigan University community. It is partially funded by the Student Activity Fee. The North Wind digital paper is published daily during the fall and winter semesters except on university holidays and during exam weeks. The North Wind Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the student body, faculty, administration and area media.

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ASNMU moves ahead with 11-Point Plan

Since the election in April, ASNMU has begun to move forward with the Eleven Point Pledge that President Hobie Webster, Vice President Jaclyn Calamaro and several representatives introduced during their campaign.

ASNMU is the democratically elected student government at Northern and is designed to help students with every aspect of their academic lives. ASNMU has representatives for students’ majors, minors, living situations and more.

“Basically, what we do is we represent issues that the students care about. It could be small things like making sure there is adequate recycling on campus.” Webster said. “Or big things like. the engineering department on campus drawing up floor plans for a student union.”

He said they also work with the Student Finance Committee, which is a part of ASNMU, to allocate funds for student events and activities.

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“It is a set of, essentially, promises that myself as president, Jack as V.P. and several representatives got together and created. We said, ‘These are the things that we want to see happening in student government. These are ways to make it more effective, to make it do its job,'” Webster said.

Some aspects of the Eleven Point Pledge are in the process of being instated, but it will take some time to see their results, he said. For instance, making Martin Luther King Day a campus-wide holiday, clarifying the ASNMU election bylaws and constitution and increasing professionalism in the office, are all things that will not be finished immediately.

One step of the pledge was to set up a text book list to be made available to students on the ASNMU Web site one month before classes start.

This is something that they have been working on over the summer and should be up with the launch of the new Web site, he said.

He added that ASNMU was able to partner up with the bookstore and the finance division of Northern to create a pilot program that allows students to put their books on their student accounts, which will be instituted before next semester.

“It is interest free. You don’t have to use a credit card for it. It just goes straight to your account the same way your PEIF pass or parking permit would,” Webster said. “You have to have this paid off by a certain point in the semester, looks like it’s going to be about the eighth week, or they will drop you from your classes.”

Another part of the pledge they have made progress on is becoming a paperless campus, he said.

“Once our new Web site launches, ASNMU will no longer depend on handing out minutes and agendas.

“Everything will be done electronically,” he said. “So we’re encouraging the university to move to a paperless system. We’re going to try to lead the way as best as we can as an organization. It saves money, it saves time, it’s good for the environment.”

Jeff Thomas, a senior majoring in an individually created program, said he has been doing some work on the Web site over the summer.

As for the official launch of the new site, he said because they did a lot of ground work on the site over the summer, it should be up before the end of the month.

“We haven’t put a specific date on it yet. I would say that I would be very disappointed if it were not out by Oct. 1,” Thomas said. “I’d say we have it about 80 to 90 percent complete.”

According to Calamaro, teamwork is the secret behind the accomplishments the organization has achieved over the summer.

“We work together to accomplish the goals,” she said. “That’s how we’ve been able to be successful so far, I feel.”

As vice president, Calamaro said she has been working to fill any open job positions at ASNMU, so that every aspect of student life will have a representative.

“This semester we have to fill other positions,” she said. “I’d like to fill these positions as soon as possible because it’s a new year, and there shouldn’t be a time when there is an opening.”

She added that students are the center of ASNMU, and should be involved with the organization.

“I just really encourage students-if they’re interested in a position-to apply on the Web site, to come to the meetings, to see what’s going on with their student government, and if they have any questions or concerns to stop by. Our doors are always open for students,” she said.

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