By STAFF

It starts to creep in around Day 26 of the 40-day winter break. The excitement of the holiday season has faded, the relatives have stopped visiting, and the brown Christmas tree has finally been tossed out with the trash. At this time, the routine of staying out late, sleeping past noon and playing Snood has become more stale and monotonous than your fall semester schedule, and you begin to wonder why you had spent the fall wishing for the ability to do nothing.

This restless energy that often strikes students during the winter break can often give birth to ingenious ideas. For the Student Government Association, the break from classes and committee meetings presented an opportunity to brainstorm ways to improve the University. The result was the creation of an SGA group on Facebook.com called “Change Hofstra.” Already the group has attracted 300 members, raising hopes that SGA may have found a way to reach out to their apathetic peers. Now, in between “poking” people and “tagging” photos, students can easily rant about Hofstra’s shortcomings by posting messages and e-mailing senators directly through Facebook.

So what are Hofstra students dissatisfied with? Surprisingly, parking has not been mentioned. Perhaps, the disgruntled commuters have waved the white flag in this fight. However, when given the chance to promote change at the University, what most students want is cheaper food, more variety of food and electric hand dryers in the bathroom. Come on now! Are these petty complaints really all that stands in the way of students being completely satisfied with this University? Looking back after you graduate, will your Hofstra experience really be defined by what you ate and how clean your bathroom was?

Students need to look beyond their immediate, personal needs and focus on the bigger picture. SGA says they are willing to speak up for students and ready to put students’ demands into action, so why not challenge them to live up to these claims by proposing some worthwhile changes?

If you’re a film major why not direct your complaints about the old production equipment in Dempster Hall to SGA.? Are you an undergrad employee of Hofstra? If so, you must know that you are working for less than state minimum wage. Maybe that is why Lackmann’s food prices seem so hard to stomach. Don’t be content and willing to accept that this is just how things are. Dream a little bigger than hand-dryers and dinner specials.

Think about what really matters. Most students are here because they want a good job after graduation. The Career Center can be an extremely helpful tool for conducting job searches, networking with employers and improving your resume. But why does it often seem like the small staff in Lowe Hall is the only resource helping students land a job? Why aren’t there courses or programs within a student’s major that guide them through their first job search? Maybe, within the Office of Advisement or the Career Center, there could be representatives that specialize in the different fields of study Hofstra offers, who could provide students with invaluable contacts and career advice.

In response to some suggestions SGA received, three proposals were passed Tuesday, two will alter the Blue Beetle route to include stops at nearby airports and stores, and another will implement a service allowing students to outsource their laundry. Yes, now you can pay someone to wash and fold your dirty clothes, so with the extra time you will now have, let’s start thinking of ways to dramatically “Change Hofstra.”