ASB working hard through the summer

It's summertime, and most people are in the mood to kick back and take a break from their usual activities. However, Associated Student Body President John Joseph is not interested in taking time off from the job.

Although in past years the ASB cabinet has not met during the summer and has not put forth much energy toward meeting goals, Joseph has different plans for his administration.

The ASB president has outlined goals that he would like to see accomplished for each cabinet position, and he is currently selecting students to serve on a summer cabinet to get started with many of those tasks.

Joseph is surely taking a step in the right direction by taking advantage of summer months to begin working on ASB projects. Going home for a summer, even if it is to rejuvenate for the upcoming year often dampens the zeal of even the hardest working of student leaders with the best of intentions.

If there is one thing that I have learned from being a section editor, it is that every person in a position of leadership must go into their job with an overabundance of energy and zest for what they do; with a commitment to stay motivated enough for themselves as well as for the people whom they direct.

Furthermore, students do not all pack up and go home for the summer. An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 students attend Ole Miss every summer. Those students have as many concerns, complaints and as much need for representation as students who attend classes during the fall and spring semesters.

I encourage John Joseph and his summer cabinet members to use these next few months as an opportunity to get to know as many students as possible, and to identify their needs and viewpoints on important student issues.

I hope that this is the kind if committment that can be expected from this administration throughout the next year. With determined and consistent attention to the needs of the students; with specific goals and direction in the minds of student represenatives, the wishes of the students may finally be heard.

Allison Pruitt