Six ASUW programs cover the range of issues closest to students’ hearts.

Mike Snowden, the ASUW director of programming, is the Board of Directors (BOD) liaison to Arts and Entertainment (A&E). He also works with the other programs, commissions and student groups who need help planning or funding an event.

So far this year, Snowden has worked with the Alumni Association to promote the Homecoming Rally, has taken on Husky Tee — a fundraising program that raises money for the Husky Foundation — and organized the HUB Crawl.

“School is very stressful and we want to give you a good time while you’re on campus,” Snowden said.

A&E:

A&E’s purpose is to book artists and comedians to perform at the UW and host film screenings.

Traditional events include the Fall Fling concert and the autumn film series.

“We feel like it’s our duty to provide a little more fun, entertainment, as opposed to just academics,” A&E director Chris Kwon said.

Kwon said that the A&E staff interacts with students by having weekly meetings and speaking with resident advisors. Residence hall students are the target audience.

“We are important because we are one of the only entertainment faculty run by college students,” concert coordinator Kyle Reardon said. “We are in the student body, so we get to keep that special pulse on what is going on when it comes to movies and concerts.”

A&E tries to bring up-and-coming artists rather than those already well-established. A&E must compete with other music venues in Seattle where more famous artists may already have a reputation. A&E tries to keep ticket prices down by avoiding fees and by keeping the size of the venues on the UW campus relatively small.

“It’s important for us to try to get the bands right before they blow up,” Reardon said. “But we also try to get people with pretty established careers.”

He gauges the probability of getting an artist to perform at the UW based on their popularity at local venues.

“If they sell out the Showbox we probably can’t get them,” Reardon said.

One of the ways that A&E can be competitive with other Seattle venues is to appeal to artists by offering a more intimate setting of a crowd of about 300 to 400 people. A&E also has shows that are just for students and shows where one member of a band does a solo performance.

Appealing to a wide range of student interest is a challenge.

“The toughest thing always is trying to find someone who will appeal to a lot of different people, and find something that will be suitable for the venues that we have,” Kwon said.

Another problem is getting people to come to campus, when it might be more convenient to go somewhere else.

“A lot of people would rather just go downtown, grab a beer and just listen to a band, as opposed to coming here, finding parking and trying to maneuver through campus to find the building,” Kwon said. “It’s tough, but I think we do a good job.”

Committee Organizing Rape Education (CORE):

CORE is a group of student volunteers committed to ending sexual assault through peer education by providing presentations and facilitating discussions around sexual assault and relationship violence, according to its Web site.

CORE’s biggest event is Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Awareness (SARVA) month in April. This academic year will be the 16th year the event has taken place on the UW campus.

“I think ASUW CORE is incredibly important for University students because sexual assault and relationship violence are important issues that hardly ever get talked about,” wrote CORE director Jackie Mayer in an e-mail.

Taking a stand to ending sexual assault and relationship violence might take the form of working as a CORE peer educator, helping a friend in an abusive relationship, talking to others about rape and relationship violence, or looking out for peoples’ safety, she wrote.

Off-Campus Housing Affairs (OCHA):

OCHA was established in 1980 to assist students, faculty and staff with information about off-campus housing.

It is not affiliated with Housing and Food Services, which manages all UW-owned housing, according to its Web site.

The OCHA Web site has a database of available housing, roommates-wanted postings, an online flea market and general information about renting. OCHA online services are only available to those with a UW Net ID, and postings are free of charge.

The difference between using OCHA and looking at classifieds or Craigslist is that the landlords that choose to post on OCHA usually do not post listings or advertisements on other sites, OCHA director Catherine Palpallatoc said.

The current Web site is undergoing improvements, and a new version of the site will be launched at the beginning of winter quarter. OCHA is also working on creating a database of all apartment complexes in the U-District, Palpallatoc said.

“We hope to have an Excel spreadsheet that you can organize the apartment complexes by average price per room, certain amenities or by distance from campus,” Palpalltoc said.

Strengthening ties to the renting community is also a goal that the OCHA hopes to accomplish before spring quarter, which is the busiest time because many students are looking for housing for the fall.

“We are going to try and see if we can create closer relationships with the landlords and apartment managers so that they know that we are a good resource to go to and they can come to us first if they are looking for people to rent out their places,” assistant director Kadey Kloetsch said.

Student Health Consortium (SHC):

SHC’s mission is to improve campus health by fostering collaboration and having a regular forum for health-interested students.

The SHC strives to build a health community that will work together on initiatives to address large issues in health, according to its Web site.

In addition to hosting the second annual Fashion Show in collaboration with A&E ­— which raises awareness about eating disorders — the SHC director Lauren Sterling has been working on starting a mentoring program directed at health students.

“It stemmed from my personal experience, where I had a really great mentor who got me involved on campus,” Sterling said. “For pre-health students it’s really easy to get stuck in studying, but to be a successful pre-health student it’s really important to be involved in your community and your school and getting clinical or research experience.”

In addition to providing resources to students studying health, the SHC is important to all students.

“A lot of things that are about being healthy are not necessarily considered pre-health or biology,” she said. Programs like Health Month in February, and the Fashion Show are ways that the SHC reaches out to promote health across the UW community.

UW Leaders:

UW Leaders is an ASUW program that offers leadership-building opportunities for freshmen, sophomores and transfer juniors.

Students in the program can expect to improve leadership skills while developing a strong sense of community, according to the UW Leaders Web site.

“We envision our purpose as to give the skills necessary to train future UW leaders,” said program director Madeleine McKenna in a previous article in The Daily. “Our service is to provide organizations on campus with leaders per se.”

Office of Governmental Relations (OGR):

The Office of Government Relations (OGR) represents all students from the University of Washington before the state Legislature and agencies in Olympia, said ASUW OGR director Richard Lum.

As director, he is a registered lobbyist in Olympia, authorized by the ASUW Student Senate and BOD to lobby on behalf of UW students, guided by ASUW opinion and student consensus through the ASUW legislative agenda, he said.

The 2009 agenda has eight topics that encompass student consensus and ASUW opinion: state funding, the cost of education, financial aid, maintaining and expanding diversity, academics, health, safety and welfare, transportation and student advocacy.

The legislative agenda was passed by the Senate and the BOD in less time than it has taken in the past.

“In previous years, it was seen as a document that enumerated every single issue that could potentially arise,” he said. “However, the problem with creating a list of positions on specific issues was that inevitably certain constituencies and policy issues were omitted.”

Earlier this year, OGR presented an agenda to the Legislative Steering Committee (LSC), which consists of ASUW Senate and BOD members, as well as Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) and other student representatives. The LSC crafted the legislative agenda using broader and more general language than in years past, so that a number of student issues could be included, without specifically delineating each issue.

“I hope it will facilitate the dialogue that students should have with legislators — making our issues succinct, practical and actionable,” he said.

Lum is required to live in Olympia from January through March during the development of the higher education budget. He is assisted by his deputy, OGR assistant director Archita Taylor and OGR legislative coordinator Alex Lark.

While Lum is in Olympia, he plans to create a blog as an informal way to keep students up to date on legislative progress, as well as submitting more formal weekly reports, which will be publicly posted on the OGR Web site.

“It’s very, very fast-paced, as soon as the session starts,” he said. “Some bills have already circulated in draft format and have been discussed in committees. Within days of the session opening, several bills will be ready for public comment and committee testimony. The legislators may be very eager to pass education funding bills quickly so they can move on to other spending and revenue bills.”

Although Lum has nearly a decade of work experience in Washington, D.C., any student can be employed as the student lobbyist or be involved with OGR. He noted he is always recruiting students who are interested in lobbying legislators.

“Before the end of the winter academic quarter, most budget bills and all higher education funding decisions will be made for the next two years,” said Lum, speaking to the importance and fast-paced nature of the session.

One of the most visible ways that OGR helps students get involved in the political process is through Husky Lobby Days. These events, organize and transport students to Olympia for meetings with legislators and legislative staff.

“Our goal this year is for every legislator in Olympia to have face time with a UW student,” Lum said.

In addition to UW student representation, Lum mentioned the importance of unity among students across Washington state. One venue for this is the Washington Student Lobby (WSL), specifically the WSL UW Chapter.

“Unifying students from across the state to promote common interests is critical because legislators listen to their constituents,” he said.

This year, OGR has organized the ASUW-GPSS Legislative Forum, which hosts a series of panels to discuss policy issues critical to higher education.

Specifically, the ASUW-GPSS Legislative Forum promotes state funding of higher education and fosters dialogue on the affordability and accessibility of higher education and financial assistance for students and their families.

Reach reporter Sonia McBride at features@dailyuw.com.