Spring Break
Water, community issues addressed at SGA event
CLAIRE MILLER
Issue date: 11/19/07 Section: News
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Candles and tablecloths adorned 15 tables in the Athena Ballroom of the Classic Center. A three-piece band in the corner softly played jazz music to set the mood.
This might not sound like the setting for a Student Government Association event, but this was the scene Friday night at the third annual State Relations Day.
Rep. Keith Heard, one of the speakers at the event, encouraged students to get involved in the community, referencing his own work in Athens before he took office.
"I was actually serving the community before I was elected," Heard said. "It's very important to take a role in the community. And I think it's important that as a student you become politically alert."
Brent Wierson and McCoy Pitt, co-chairs of SGA's external affairs committee, organized the event, which brought Mayor Heidi Davison,
Sen. Bill Cowsert and Rep. Keith Heard to the Classic Center to speak to students about issues facing Athens-Clarke County and the state of Georgia.
"We organized this event to connect students with local and state government," Wierson said.
The evening began with Cowsert, who discussed his thoughts on tax policy, the state budget and how the state government has worked to address the drought.
"In 2004, a law was passed to have a state water council, and this water council was given the joy of creating a water conservation plan," Cowsert said. "We've been working on that plan for three years now."
The plan involves doing a wide-scale assessment of the state's water supplies and dividing Georgia into "regional water councils to come up with plans for the best ways to provide water," he said. "Water resources vary from place to place in the state."
Cowsert also advised students to continue contacting their senators and to include their hometowns in e-mails so the officials know their constituents are the ones contacting them.
Davison shifted gears during her part of the evening, focusing on the ways Athens-Clarke County and the University work together.
This might not sound like the setting for a Student Government Association event, but this was the scene Friday night at the third annual State Relations Day.
Rep. Keith Heard, one of the speakers at the event, encouraged students to get involved in the community, referencing his own work in Athens before he took office.
"I was actually serving the community before I was elected," Heard said. "It's very important to take a role in the community. And I think it's important that as a student you become politically alert."
Brent Wierson and McCoy Pitt, co-chairs of SGA's external affairs committee, organized the event, which brought Mayor Heidi Davison,
Sen. Bill Cowsert and Rep. Keith Heard to the Classic Center to speak to students about issues facing Athens-Clarke County and the state of Georgia.
"We organized this event to connect students with local and state government," Wierson said.
The evening began with Cowsert, who discussed his thoughts on tax policy, the state budget and how the state government has worked to address the drought.
"In 2004, a law was passed to have a state water council, and this water council was given the joy of creating a water conservation plan," Cowsert said. "We've been working on that plan for three years now."
The plan involves doing a wide-scale assessment of the state's water supplies and dividing Georgia into "regional water councils to come up with plans for the best ways to provide water," he said. "Water resources vary from place to place in the state."
Cowsert also advised students to continue contacting their senators and to include their hometowns in e-mails so the officials know their constituents are the ones contacting them.
Davison shifted gears during her part of the evening, focusing on the ways Athens-Clarke County and the University work together.
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