What would we do without a USU?

Imagine there’s no University Student Union. No place for students to go in between classes, no place for students to sit. Imagine no Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; imagine no movies at The Beach.

Imagining a CSULB without a University Student Union is very difficult, since I have been calling this my home away from home for the last five years.

I recently went to a conference for College Unions, in which I attended numerous workshops and seminars about ways to improve our student union. I spent the majority of the time outside the classroom getting to meet different students from other campuses around California and asking them about what services and programs their U provided. I was amazed by the variety of answers.

CSU Dominguez Hills does not have a current student union; they are in the process of re-opening it next semester. I could not believe that a campus could function without a center dedicated for students. And truth be told, their chair even told me how difficult it was and how the campus did lose a sense of their community.

CSU Northridge just had their grand opening for the USU and they made the opening a huge event. For them it was about showing how important a USU can be, because of all the services it offers. Their campaign of “more” emphasizes all the extra things that add to a student’s life because of a strong USU (I actually attended two workshops on how to promote what the USU has to offer).

This definitely affirmed my belief in a quote former President Maxson would always say that if all you are doing is just attending class you have missed out (my paraphrase).

On December 1st there was a presentation of a plaque unveiling to Frank Knoffke, the “founding father” of our USU. It was a sweet ceremony with a lot of retired staff members of the USU and the University who came to thank a man for one of his most memorable achievements. Knoffke told the story of how one day he was walking around the campus and saw students sitting on the grass and when he went closer he realized the grass was wet and that the students had to sit on their books. He felt that students should have the opportunity to have a place where they could come and study between classes and most importantly feel welcomed. He and several other people worked tirelessly on the project that would later become my safe haven from classes and I thank them for that.

Imagine a place where students come after a final and eat ice cream to make them selves feel better. Imagine a place where students can go to meet with each other and vent about how their weekend went. Well you don’t have to imagine, instead come to the U and grab lunch and hang around and just enjoy your time here at the beach.

P.S. I wrote this while listening to John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Don’t blame me for having good taste in music.

Want more from Meli? Check out Meli's previous blogs! 12.01.06 11.06.06 10.30.06 10.20.06 10.13.06 10.05.06 9.29.06 9.22.06 9.15.06 9.8.06 9.1.06

Who is Meli The Gr8? When she is not posing next to trees, Meli Duque uses her time to trick unknowing freshmen into giving all their time to ASI. The self-proclaimed Beach Guru is a super-senior who has been involved, one way or another, in almost every type of organization on campus, which includes writing for both school newspapers (when that was allowed), joining a sorority, campaigning for student government, and even rowing on the women's crew team (it only lasted two weeks). Now she stays chained to a desk in ASI Communications where she writes, edits and awaits her chance to escape into the "real world" this spring.