Tuesday, during their weekly meeting, Student Government Association (SGA) announced the launch of their new Web site, located at http://www.jhusga.com.
According to Evan Lazerowitz, SGA vice president and creator of the Web site, it is an important tool both internally and externally for the SGA.
Within the SGA itself, the site can be used for communication between committees, and all SGA members are able to edit it.
Beyond offering services and information to SGA members, the Web site provides information for the student body including minutes from SGA meetings, an event calendar, information about student funding and an archive of all e-mails sent out by the SGA.
According to Lazerowitz, the SGA had a Web site two years ago, but last year, the developers did not keep it up.
"The previous Web site wasn't very user-friendly or informative," Senior Class President Affan Sheikh said.
"As vice president, I have a pretty blank agenda, so I took on the role of creating the Web site," Lazerowitz said.
Lazerowitz began developing the site over the summer, as it was part of his SGA campaign platform in the spring. He used the content management system Joomla.
"I've designed it so it's easy to use," Lazerowitz said. "The purpose of this is so it can be passed down each year, and updated by the next SGA."
An additional component to the Web site is a Twitter feed.
According to Elizabeth Duval, SGA secretary, the SGA Twitter account is updated during all meetings and before the SGA holds big events.
"I think it's a common misconception among the student body that the SGA doesn't do anything," Duval said. "[From the Twitter account], people can see the advances we make during meetings."
"I think it's important that we are trying to be part of the new technology age," Duval said in regards to both the Web site and the Twitter feed. "It's like a Facebook and Twitter revolution."
The SGA Twitter account is followed by other Hopkins organizations including various student groups and the MSE Library.
According to Sheikh, the next major step for the SGA, once the Web site is totally complete, will be to promote the site to the entire student body, and to encourage all students to utilize it.
"There are a lot of resources available [on the site], not only for student groups, but also for individuals in the student body," Sheikh said.
He also said that methods of promotion for the site have not been formally discussed by the SGA, but he expects that the individual classes will undertake their own initiatives to publicize it.
"I think we should primarily focus on the freshmen," Sheikh said, "so that they get into the habit of using the Web site."
