Sitting at his desk in the USG office, newly inaugurated president Rob Biederman '08 summarized his hopes for the next year in a sentence that any of his predecessors could just as easily have uttered: "I would want Princeton to become a more enjoyable place to go to college."
But he wants to achieve that goal differently, by focusing on details.
He said he plans to persuade the U-Store to accept prox swipes as payment, to work on reopening Campus Club and to organize weekly viewing parties for television shows such as "24" in Frist Campus Center.
Unlike the previous administrations under which members worked on personal projects, Biederman has set aside five to seven goals for the USG to work on jointly. Instead of members working on their own agendas, each person will work on projects aimed at further achieving one of the goals, ranging from student services to academic life.
"In the past, the president had one or two things he worked on," he said. But Biederman wants to serve as a manager for projects that other USG officers are working on. "I want to be a helper to everyone rather than the one who initiates and is involved in every detail of everything."
But Biederman does have several personal goals for improving campus life. "I think we're lacking in student life and services," he said. "We don't have an on-campus bar. We need a shuttle bus from Forbes to mid-campus. Students should be able to rescind P/D/F options after they know their grade. People should know their preceptors before they sign up for precepts."
Biederman also said that interactions with the administration have been positive so far. When a student forwarded an e-mail from a professor who said that he couldn't hand out as many A's as he had hoped, Biederman discussed the matter with Dean of the College Nancy Weiss Malkiel, who said she would sort out the situation.
Like his predecessor, Alex Lenahan '07, Biederman hopes to further ensure the correct implementation of the grade deflation policy. "It's not within the power of the USG to get it changed," Biederman said, "but in my opinion, if [the grade deflation policy] is implemented well, it's not that bad."
Biederman began his USG career as a U-Councilor during the first half of his sophomore year, working on bridging the gap between the student body and the USG by creating Air Your Grievances Day and expanding offerings at the C-Store in Frist. He noted, however, that he did not accomplish as much as he had originally hoped because acclimating to the politics of the USG took a few months.
He then served as USG vice president under Lenahan, concentrating on administrating the USG and lobbying for eating club financial aid.
Others in Biederman's administration who have worked with him before agree that he will be a very focused president.
"He's good to work with," treasurer Mike Monagle '09 said. "He gets things done, and he always has new ideas. He had such a successful year as vice president, and Rob will continue that." Monagle worked with Biederman last year as USG executive secretary.
"He's had a lot of experience coordinating school-wide student events," vice president Josh Weinstein '09 said. "He's really goal-oriented."
"He's interested in what students say about things," Lenahan said.
Lenahan said, however, that Biederman will face challenges with regard to one of the major events that will occur during his presidency: the institution of four-year residential colleges.
"He has to try to pay a lot of attention. It is important for him to continue to make sure that student voices are heard on the issue," Lenahan said.
In December, Biederman defeated junior class president Grant Gittlin '08 in the race for the USG presidency.
In an e-mail he sent to the student body on the first day of the spring term, Biederman encouraged students to contact him and other members of the USG with their concerns. He included his personal AOL Instant Messenger screenname in the e-mail and noted that the USG's weekly senate meetings are open for all students to attend. He said that since sending out the e-mail, he has received dozens of responses from students.
"I'm grateful [for the responses], but it also leads to a little inefficiency," he said. Under the new system, students would be able to contact other USG officers directly to voice their concerns, rather than having to e-mail Biederman and wait for him to forward the e-mail to the appropriate person.
In the next few days, Biederman hopes to update the USG website with a "guide to interacting with the USG" that includes descriptions of officers' positions so that students know who to contact when they have questions.
He plans on creating new appointed positions to take care of other student issues as well, such as a specific person to deal with Nassau Street relations and another person to manage intramural sports. Biederman hopes that students will take the initiative and come to him with ideas to help the student community, and he will help facilitate action upon the ideas.
"I think he will have a successful year. Rob's going to be a great leader for USG," Monagle said.
"I feel like we're going to have a lot of direction. He puts in a lot of time into USG," Weinstein said.
Ultimately, Biederman said he hopes to increase student participation in student government.
"The USG can only represent student interests as well as we know them," he said.
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