OPINION: VOTE ETHAN DUPUIS, USSB REPRESENTATIVE
Ethan Dupuis
He/Him
PSSS 2026 Rep. At-Large, President PSU Republicans
4/14/24
USSB Representative is possibly the most important position you’ve never heard about. The role includes advocacy, communication, engagement, and budget oversight in the university system and its constituency. The USSB representative pushes for policies and initiatives that benefit students in Plymouth and the USNH. The key is in the latter part of that phrase: benefit students. [Student Senate] is generally known to have large, sweeping ideas that cost a lot of money, but that most likely will not make a meaningful change in the student experience. Instead, I’m advocating for small, achievable changes that make your student life just a little bit easier.
For example, parking is an enormous hassle for Plymouth State students. Failure to display placard fines is probably the most annoying ticket a student could receive. Personally, I’ve completely spaced putting my placard back up after driving, and I unfortunately either had to pay the fine or go through the time-consuming process of an appeal. I’d like to bypass this issue cost-effectively, so I will advocate replacing our placards with removable stickers inside your windshield. Therefore, your sticker is always on, and you don’t have to fret about forgetting your placard. It is an achievable goal that makes your life just a bit easier.
Another initiative that advocates for students’ mental health and easier access to our paid programs regards putting the PSU counseling center and the UPD Emergency and non-emergency phone numbers on our ID cards. Then, we would flip our cards over to make a call instead of navigating the PSU website. These smaller goals can contribute to a much more significant impact on campus.
Finally, I’m a bit unimpressed with our constituency outreach in [PSSS]. I believe it is the role of the student senate to reach out to the student body and not vice versa. Although involvement in student government is a learning experience, it is not the intention to be a reclusive body that only shows relevance when seeking re-election. I have created a list of the PSU clubs and organizations with all their points of contact, and once elected, I will attend every organization once a semester to heed concerns and workshop my ideas. I am running for USSB because it is a position that can genuinely impact the student experience without the strings of the student senate.
Editors Note: This article is the opinion and argument of Ethan Dupuis for his candidacy as USSB Representative for the ’24/’25 formation of the PSSS. It is not an endorsement of Dupuis’s candidacy. Sumbit your own Op-Ed here.