Even though he was elected to the highest office of Associated Students of GCC without opposition, the incoming president is not planning any wholesale changes in the way the organization does business.

Henan L. Joof, who held the office of vice president of administration before vaulting to the top post in student government, has fixed his focus on the most important process in governing: communications.

The ASGCC president-elect said, “I realized during the past semester that a lot of students don’t have that much information or don’t know what’s happening.” To illustrate his point, he recalled that students in the ASGCC committee meetings did not know whether fees were going to be $25 or $18. “They didn’t know it had to go through the whole budget process,” he said.

“They don’t have the information; they don’t know that even though the fee increases are going to be implemented, the money doesn’t come back to the school.

“Getting them information and letting them know how the student government is working toward helping them get their services” is particularly important,” said Joof.

Antonino Patti, outgoing president, said, “I think he’s very aware. He’s participated a lot in this budget process. He’s going to do an outstanding job.”

Joof, a 22-year-old native of Paris, said he would like to provide the student body with information on the day-to-day activities such as the budget meeting from which he had just emerged.

The incoming president also feels that students should have a say in the allocation of a diminishing pool of funds, via their elected student representatives. Joof said he “would like to get feedback” from a larger part of the student body.

Joof also indicated that he would like to see a level of enthusiasm among AS reps during his administration that is commensurate with the efforts that elected officers displayed last semester. He said he would like to see everybody pitching in to help on all AS projects. “Just getting them motivated and feeling like they are a part of something” important is a goal Joof has set for himself.

Joof also places prime importance on keeping the lines of communication open between AS and the college administration, especially at meetings.

“If we don’t attend, there is no student voice.” Joof added, “There might be an issue that they don’t see. Through their eyes, there is no issue, but we may have a problem with it.”

To fine tune communications between the administration and AS, Joof said, “I would like to see a system where the rep on the committee gets the information.” Doing so would eliminate another area in which communications may be lost.