With the campus plan having been finalized and released, increased attention is given to the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions that have a large influence over the approval of these plans.
It is important to have a dialogue with the community, both between the commissioners and residents. During the campaign for the current Commissioner positions, current Commissioner Tom Smith (3D-02) had stated the importance of reaching out to the students that form the bulk of his constituency.
In the September 21, 2010 issue of the Eagle, Mr. Smith participated in the “Five Questions with…” series of the Eagle. He was asked “What will you do to represent the AU community in the future?” He responded that he would reach out to Student Government leaders for opportunities to meet with students, which will be occurring when he sits down with Commissioner Deon Jones (3D-07) on Feb. 22 to discuss issues facing students at a public forum. He also stated he would “ask The Eagle to consider making space available for a column periodically to communicate directly with student.”
This is a great idea, as he would be able to have an unfiltered means of communicating directly to students. Unfortunately, Smith has not written an editorial to date, which has taken an opportunity away from the students to hear directly from Smith on how he feels about issues relating directly to them.
I hope that he will write more frequently in these pages and continues to engage AU Students.
Ed Levandoski SPA, ‘11
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Eagle has not received any submissions from Smith.
