You are awesome Chris! Get Well

        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Chris Allen [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:   Sunday, March 28, 1999 11:15 PM
        To:     [log in to unmask]
        Subject:        "The earth laughs in flowers." -- E.E. Cummings

        Dear Senators-
                I wanted to take a quick moment to thank you all for
your role in making
        last week's elections a huge success.  Having taken a weekend
far from UVM,
        most of which was spent on the road, I've had quite a bit of
time for
        reflection on the experience.
                As you are all by now aware, more people voted than any
of us had ever
        expected or dared to hope for.  What that means is that all
those people in
        some way felt that they were connected to the SGA enough to care
in what
        direction we take things next year.  Given our problems of late
connecting
        to the students, or as Robert would say "getting the pulse", we
all should
        look at this as a powerful opportunity to be more visible and
relevant.
        Everybody who voted, whether their candidate won or lost, now
feels as
        though they have a stake in this government.  We need to harness
this
        momentum now!
                We have taken a step forward, let us not now take two
steps back.  Many of
        the people I talked to throughout this campaign, specifically
some of the
        environmental folks, were willing to grant us participation in
the form of
        a vote as something of a test.  They expressed a certain
distrust of the
        SGA but  basically said, "OK.  I'll vote, but I really don't
think the SGA
        matters.  Why don't you SHOW ME why I should be involved."  If
we address
        the concerns of these tentative voters in an effective manner we
stand to
        convert them into strong supporters of our work.  Conversely, if
we do not,
        we will alienate them more then ever - past the point of ever
gaining again
        any part of their confidence.
                So, as we now take a deep breath and look forward we
should do so with the
        weight of each and every one of those votes heavy upon our
minds. We need
        to see every vote as not only a vote for a candidate in the
election, but
        also as an expression of faith in what we as an SGA do - a faith
we can
        either strengthen or destroy in the next year depending on our
actions.
        Lets get out there over the next year and show these people
beyond any
        shadow of a doubt that the SGA is THE voice of the students -
that we
        deserve their confidence.
                Again, nice job on all you did to make this happen.
Lots of people I
        talked to expressed some level of concern for their personal
safety if
        their friend the senator found out they didn't vote!  Moving on
to the
        Grammy awards acceptance speech part of this convoluted little
message - I
        know I speak for everybody in sending out 'special thanks' to
Julie Britt
        and everyone she employed in her efforts.  I hope this message
was at least
        vaguely coherent, I managed to get sick this weekend so I'm a
little NyQuil
        spacey right now:-)
        Thanks for reading my ramble-
        Chris.