The alleged library gunman fiasco has caught the eye of Georgia State’s Student Government Association (SGA).
On Jan. 14, at the first SGA Senate meeting of 2016, university politicos discussed how to kick off the new year on the right foot. But rumors of the armed robbery that took place hours prior loomed over chatter of upcoming elections and sustainability efforts.
SGA President Sebastian Parra said, although details of yesterday’s robbery are “now just alleged,” he’s working with the Georgia State University Police Department (GSUPD) to assess student safety.
“We’re gonna be meeting about the alleged robberies,” he said. “People, apparently, are getting into the library with guns and robbing students. It’s very alarming, very concerning.”
Still, Parra said he’s been communicating with Sgt. Sharon Ware of GSUPD’s Crime Prevention Unit to get to the root of the scare and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“Students are freaked out, but I know people like to scandalize things,” he said. “A possible solution that we discussed briefly would be metal detectors. We can find ways to increase police presence in these areas.”
On a less alarming note, Parra said the committee assembled to merge governing docs for the consolidated Georgia State is — “hopefully” — gathering on Friday, Jan. 22 to finalize the big changes.
“We welcomed several colleges to the Panther family this week,” he said. “With the constitution, it takes forever. We spent almost 30 hours now debating the bylaws and all the election rules.”
Parra said although the early chats with Georgia Perimeter’s SGA officials were “pretty ugly,” after some 30 total hours confined in a conference room together, he said, “We came to a compromise.”
“It was pretty ugly at first because we had to decide if we wanted one or six presidents,” he said. “In the end, we came to a compromise: There will be one SGA president, but he or she can come from any of the campuses.”
SGA Sen. Justin Brightharp, head legislator for the College of Arts and Sciences, welcomed his SGA comrades back to school with a brainstorm on sustainability efforts. Brightharp said Georgia State needs to broaden the conversation about sustainable energy initiatives.
“There are universities around the world that have bachelors, masters programs for sustainability,” he said. “We, as a university, need to start implementing sustainability into our degree programs.”
Brightharp, who’s a fellow with Atlanta Beltline Inc., said cities near and abroad have boasted the benefits from sustainability projects, such as the Beltline.
“If you do sustainability in a smart way, there’s a possibility for higher income, better jobs, and equity within the community,” he said. “If you think about the Beltline, they have affordable housing initiatives.”
SGA VP of Student Services Fortune Onwuzuruike told The Signal that Thursday that he’s been getting complaints of Panther Shuttle speeds. Now he’s on the prowl to find out why.
And if you see SGA’s VP of Public Affairs Anthony Nguyen strolling around campus, ask him why he’s bald.
Where does SGA President Sebastian Parra get “alleged” from? The robberies have actually happened! Does he even know the meaning of the word?
And what does he mean by “I know people like to scandalize things”? Maybe he means it’s a scandal that adult students are forbidden to defend themselves from armed robbers on campus?
I hope the Georgia General Assembly is paying attention and passes campus carry this year. We don’t need any more helpless victims who are unable to fight back against rapists, robbers, and murderers.