PAGE 6, CAMPUS CARRIER Features
Meet Berry’s
Elected Officials
Leigh Jackson
Features Editor
Attendance at SGA meetings this se-
mester has reached record highs, with
more than 100 students consistently
attending the weekly gatherings. Ask
SGA President Laura Sutton the reason
for this spike in attendance, and she
just might say it has something to do
with the jokes she tells at the conclu-
sion of every meeting.
“I love a good joke. My weekly
jokes are my corny thing that I enjoy,”
the senior said. While other students
say they appreciate Sutton’s jokes each
week, most have more substantial
things to say about her and the lead-
ership skills she has demonstrated this
year.
“Laura is one of the best SGA presi-
dents I’ve seen in four years here,” said
SGA Treasurer John Cason, who works
closely with her. “She is dedicated to
student opinions and really listens.”
“When she goes to meetings, she
speaks on behalf of the students, but
she’s not afraid to say what she really
thinks about things,” said senior Erin
Horne, Sutton’s roommate. “I think
that’s a good trait for someone in a
leadership position.”
Sutton said seeking student opin-
ions and using her voice to represent
the student body accurately are some
of her first priorities as president.
“A big part of my job is communica-
tion,” she said. “One of the things I have
tried to do is make myself available to
people so that they feel comfortable
talking to me if they have concerns.”
Sutton said that one of the ways she
tries to achieve this goal is by attend-
ing meetings of student organizations.
She said that she views this as a way to
become as informed as she can about
issues that matter to students.
“It’s important that students com-
municate with faculty and staff and
vice versa,” she said. Sutton said she
sees her position as key in facilitating
this communication, and she said she
wants to help increase dialogue be-
tween the two groups.
In addition to the personal goals
Sutton has for serving as SGA presi-
dent, she also has goals for the orga-
nization and the campus as a whole.
Consistent with her mission to let stu-
lauren wright, photo editor dents’ voices be heard, she and the ex-
ecutive officers sought the opinions of
“I don’t know how to measure this, but I would love the student body in creating their goals
to see every student involved and passionate about at the beginning of the semester.
something at Berry,” Sutton said. “That’s how you “We encouraged the SGA reps to
100+
get so much out of Berry, by putting into it.” participate in the goal-setting process
13
10 to 15
meetings Sutton attends speeches Sutton has
delivered since be- students who attend
each week
coming president SGA each week
To see a video interview with SGA President Sutton visit
www.youtube.com/vikingvision1
this year,” she said. “People are much
more willing to help if they are work-
ing on something they feel passionate
about.”
A key goal the group established
is leading Berry to become more envi-
ronmentally friendly. SGA has created
a Green Team, a smaller group of stu-
dents who are focusing on driving the
effort to make the campus more eco-
friendly. Sutton said that this initiative
is dual-focused, with both short-term
goals and achievements the group
would like to see occur over a longer
period of time. Immediate changes
the group would like to see are a de-
crease in the overall waste produced
by the college and an increase in recy-
cling. In the long term, the Green Team
would like for Berry to possibly create
“green” policies similar to those at oth-
er universities.
Sutton said that most of her time
serving as SGA president is spent pre-
paring for or attending meetings and
writing speeches. She serves on 11 dif-
ferent committees and attends an aver-
age of 10 to 15 meetings a week. Sut-
ton said that she spends a great deal of
time preparing for these meetings by
researching and preparing statements.
Since being elected, she has delivered
13 speeches.
“I keep joking that I wish there was
a place I could buy more time,” she
said. “Between school, working, hav-
ing a social life and making time for
myself, I always feel like something
has to give.”
Sutton said that this year she has
tried to make an intentional effort to
make sure she is having fun. Her defi-
nition of fun consists of trips to the
outlet mall in Calhoun, fishing on Lake
Guntersville with her dad and 16-year-
old brother and spending time with
her friends, whom she said she does
not get to see often during the week.
Though her peers say that leader-
ship comes naturally to Sutton, she
said that when she came to college, she
never thought she would be the head
of the student body.
“I wasn’t a leader in high school,”
she said. “I just played basketball.”
Horne, who attended Hoover High
School with Sutton in Hoover, Ala.,
and has lived with her for three years,
agreed.
“I didn’t know her as well in high
school, but she was pretty quiet,”
Horne said. “She has really taken on a
new role at Berry than she had in high
school.” Horne said that Sutton has
always had the same personality and
11
committees
Sutton serves on
November 6, 2008
Chase Davis, Vice President
“been really funny,” but her roommate
has become much more outgoing and
involved in campus life than she was
as a high school student.
Sutton’s relationship with SGA
began her freshman year when she
served as the SGA representative for
Habitat for Humanity. After being en-
couraged by friends and older SGA
members to run for a class officer po-
sition, she ran and was elected as the
secretary of her class as a sophomore.
Sutton said that it was during this time
when she decided she wanted to run
for SGA president one day.
“I loved the community service as-
pect of the job,” she said. Sutton said
that she enjoys the position of presi-
dent thoroughly and not just because
of the “super sweet office with a win-
dow view” she occupies on the third
floor of Krannert.
“It’s one of the most rewarding
jobs on campus because you get to see
how what you do affects students,”
she said. Sutton said she also enjoys
opportunities the job has brought her,
such as being able to attend board of
trustees’ meetings where she can learn
about Berry’s future.
“You also get to work with faculty,
staff and administrators who think
highly of students, which is encour-
aging. I love the opportunity to make
a difference in a place that has made
such a difference in my life, and I see
[this job] as a way to help students,”
she said.
Sutton, who is majoring in both
management and marketing, said she
would like to continue making a dif-
ference after she graduates from Berry.
Currently, she is researching graduate
programs where she could earn a mas-
ter’s degree in organizational psychol-
ogy. One of her dream jobs is serving as
the CEO of a non-profit organization.
Sutton said that she could also see her-
self working for a consulting company
handling leadership development and
best practices training.
Politics may or may not be in the fu-
ture for the student body president.
“I haven’t thought about it,” she
said. “I feel like SGA is different [than
politics], but I really enjoy public
speaking and being in front of an audi-
ence, so who knows.”
For now, Sutton will continue to
lead the student body at Berry, where
she said she hopes to encourage more
students to get involved in student or-
ganizations and feel valued.
“I want to find as many ways as I
can to make a difference,” she said.
1
...or more
jokes Sutton tells at SGA
meetings each week
November 6, 2008 Features
want to stay in higher level administration,”
of Campus Services
Amanda Griswell
Asst. Features Editor
Many students join SGA to be more in-
volved in the decision making process for the
numerous activities on campus and to get in-
volved in the Berry community.
Senior Chase Davis, vice president for cam-
pus services, said he helps improve Berry’s
campus by working with students, faculty,
staff and administrators. After becoming vice
president, Davis said he saw a side of Berry
that he had not seen before.
“I now have a deeper or better understand-
ing of what it means to be an involved student
at Berry. I also came to the realization that I
Jesse Milby, Vice President
of Student Services
Briona Arradondo
Staff Writer
Vice President for Student Services Jesse
Milby calls himself a voice for the silent major-
ity. Milby said that through his position he ad-
dresses relevant issues on campus and strives
to better the student community.
Milby said that he got involved in SGA un-
willingly as a result of a joke. He said his hall
mates tricked him into being their representa-
tive his sophomore year.
Hiss involvement solidified his decision
to continue in politics after graduation. Mil-
by, who is from Meansville, Ga., has a fam-
ily history in politics and wants to become a
Lauren Ramsey, Secretary
Laura Price
Staff Writer
“Her smile is contagious. She is so full of
life,” said Brian Jory, professor and director of
family studies, of senior Lauren Ramsey. Ram-
sey serves as the secretary of SGA and said
that she has always been actively involved in
her community. She said that she ran for the
secretary position because she likes to be in-
volved in planning and implementing impor-
tant ideas. Ramsey said that she also enjoys
representing her friends on campus through
her position.
Ramsey considers it a privilege to be an
executive officer for SGA and to have con-
nections with the college administrators. In
John Cason, Treasurer
Megan Gilker
Staff Writer
Along with the student activites fee came a
Berry student who considers himself passion-
ate for people and business.
John Cason, a senior from Statesboro, Ga.,
with a double major in finance and marketing,
has been involved with SGA since his fresh-
man year and is currently the treasurer.
“I was excited [when I was elected] because
it was the first year of the student activities
fee…and it was an opportunity to manage a
quarter of a million dollars,” Cason said. “And
I thought with my skills in finance and bud-
geting, it would be kind of a good experience
photos by lauren wright, photo editor
to do that.”
scends through his work on campus,” Richard
Davis said.
Davis, who grew up in Fayetteville, Ga.,
said he decided to run for this position to gain
experience and leadership skills. He said that
he considered what he could bring to SGA and
what he could gain from being a part of SGA
before deciding to run for this office.
“I chose to run because I felt like it would
broaden my horizons and experiences. It felt
right,” Davis said.
As an SGA executive officer, Davis works
with various search committees and helps
with a variety of events in order to make a
difference on campus. The diversity of his in-
volvement is the best part of being an SGA of-
ficer, Davis said.
“His ability to get along with anyone tran-
senator.
“My great grandfather was a state sena-
tor, and my grandfathers were a mayor and
a judge,” said Milby, a senior history major.
“There is a long standing tradition in my fam-
ily, and we are fairly well-known for being
service-oriented. I want to live up to that.”
Outside of SGA, Milby serves as president
for the Churchill Society. Eric Sands, assistant
professor of government, has had Milby as a
student in several classes and said they worked
together in the Politics and Law Society and
the Churchill Society. Milby’s leadership roles
and connections with the government depart-
ment facilitated his penchant for debate.
“Jesse’s one of those people that’s never
afraid to draw attention to the elephant in the
room,” said Sands. “When Jesse sees a prob-
lem, he wants to go after it.”
her position, she is able to talk with influen-
tial leaders including President Stephen R.
Briggs, Dean of Students Debbie Heida and
the board of trustees about issues that affect
the Berry community.
“It is a privilege to be able to use my voice
to talk to these people,” Ramsey said.
One of the biggest changes that Ramsey
said she has seen over the past year at Berry is
the adjustment in visitation hours.
“It was a change that was good, and it
is refreshing to have and see change,” said
Ramsey.
Ramsey said that her weeks are usually
busy with school and SGA, but on the week-
ends she is able to slow down.
“Saturdays are my saving grace,” she said.
Her typical Saturday consists of sleeping
Cason began learning magic in third grade
and used it as a hobby, but by the time he
graduated from high school, he was perform-
ing three to five magic shows a month. This
provided business experience.
“When I turned 16 I started marketing my-
self, which is actually why I chose to be a mar-
keting major,” Cason said. “I was extremely
talented at doing magic at 16, and I had no
way of selling my product so I started reading
these marketing books.”
SGA President Laura Sutton does not be-
lieve his SGA position will be the end of Ca-
son’s business career.
“I can see John being (what we call) a ‘serial
entrepreneur,’ which is where you just keep
coming up with these ideas and keep starting
these new companies,” she said. “He’s going
to be a very successful entrepreneur. I think
CAMPUS CARRIER PAGE 7
Hughes, associate professor of psychology,
said of Davis.
Davis said that over this year he wants to
increase student involvement in SGA and at
events on campus. Others seem pleased with
what he has accomplished through his posi-
tion so far.
“Chase is taking an initiative to increase
school spirit across the campus, which includes
a ‘Go Vikings’ banner signed by various stu-
dents to be on display at home athletic events.
He has also brought in different athletic teams
to come introduce themselves to SGA,” Kelli
Stansell, junior class president said.
Davis said SGA is “a great experience,”
and he said it is a great way to get involved
at Berry.
Former SGA member Cleve Miller, a senior
marketing major, said Milby is a good voice
for the students and isn’t afraid of superiors.
Miller said he admires Milby’s initiative to
raise questions.
“Anything that comes his way that is
controversial he’s not afraid to bring it up,”
said Miller. “He’ll keep fighting for what he
believes.”
Milby said he likes that the Berry adminis-
trators actually listen to students. However, he
said he is afraid that Berry will begin sacrific-
ing its standards to meet student numbers.
“No matter how much I criticize and scold,
I do it because I want the school to live up to
what it can be. Berry has such amazing poten-
tial,” said Milby. “I don’t want Berry or peo-
ple to rest on its morals. When we’re content
where we are, that’s when we start to lose.”
in until 10 a.m, going to lunch with her room-
mate, senior Kate Slusser, and then studying
outside if it is a nice day. Ramsey’s friends de-
scribe her positively.
“One word that describes Lauren would be
caring,” said senior Josh Etress.
“She is awesome,” said junior Lindsey
Banks.
Ramsey’s hometown is Knoxville, Tenn.,
and she said she supports the University of
Tennessee’s athletic department.
“I am a huge Tennessee fan. I love foot-
ball and basketball,” she said. In high school,
she supported athletics as a competitve
cheerleader.
Ramsey, who is majoring in community de-
velopment, said she hopes to work for a non-
profit organization after she graduates.
he’s smart enough to come up with innovative
new ideas.” In fact, Cason is getting involved
in a family business that sells barbecue sauce.
“I’ll be either the fourth or fifth generation
that will be making it,” he said.
With a so much in his future, Cason’s girl-
friend, sophomore Laura Diepenbrock, said
that his ideal retirement might be enjoying the
ocean.
“He’s always said ‘I could live on a sailboat
because you don’t have to pay property taxes,’
and so I could see him on a sailboat with some
black coffee and a newspaper,” she said.
Until then Cason, a Boy Scout, Executive
Round Table president, magician and entre-
preneur, will follow his grandfather’s motto:
“More people die in bed than anywhere
else, so get up.”