Union Board taps new directors

The leadership of the Indiana Memorial Union Board has changed hands for the spring semester, with the new directors eager to begin scheduling events for the organization.The newly appointed directors will serve through December 2002.\nThe governing body for the Indiana Memorial Union, Union Board provides many student-entertainment activities and educational events on campus. Composed of 16 student and four non-student members, Union Board sets policy for the IMU facilities and is responsible for recruiting such keynote speakers as Elizabeth Dole last fall and Maya Angelou in spring 2001.The board also coordinates a free film series, held in Whittenberger Auditorium, as well as concerts at the IU Auditorium.\nUnion Board events are funded by the student activity fees that all IU students pay at the beginning of the year.\nReturning board member Kevin Morgyoros said Union Board is an integral part of campus life at IU. \n"It's an amazing organization, it has such a broad reach on campus," he said. "It touches every student on campus in some way." \nLast semester, the student body voted for eight student members on the 2002 Union Board. The other eight were selected through an interview process by a committee consisting of various leaders of different student organizations, faculty and the Union Board Director, Winston Shindell, Morgyoros said. The selection committee is different every year.\nMorygoros said the current Union Board will begin planning programming when the new committees are decided on this weekend. The new board president and vice presidents will also be elected by the directors at that time. Following the election of the officers, the board will be formally installed.\nOnce the committees are decided, 13 of the 16 board members will each head one, leading a cadre of student volunteers to accomplish their committee's goals.\nJunior Keegan Proudfoot has been involved with the Union Board since her freshman year, but this will be her first term as a director.\n"(Union Board) is basically a not-for-profit organization whose only goal is to entertain and educate the student body," Proudfoot said. "There are a lot of great resources here you don't get at other organizations…This is an organization that's really hard to tell you what it's all about, because it does so many different things."\nJunior Nina Onesti, another new director, hopes to give the Union Board a jump start with more exciting programming. \n"I'm looking forward to a board that will cover the interests of the campus," she said.