Students under time restraints find it hard to participate
By Carlene Peterson


Participation in campus groups and organizations can build a resume and help students gain valuable experience. But some students at Buffalo State College feel they are too busy to do anything outside of school and work.

Tom Calderone, the executive vice president of music programming and talent at MTV and a 1985 graduate of BSC, said taking advantage of campus organizations could really make a difference once a student graduates.

"It's about the classes, but its also about the opportunities Buffalo State has to offer," he said at a discussion held at BSC on March 11. "(Employers) are going to look for experience, and not taking advantage of what this school has to offer is a waste."

However, students like Laura Mayle and Sarah Runkel, both elementary education majors, say they would like to be more involved, but cannot find the time.

"I go to classes from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and then I work from 12 to 8 p.m.," Mayle said.

Mayle, a sophomore, works 35 hours a week and commutes to campus. She'd like to join Student Union Board or a teacher's union, but is having trouble working it into her schedule.

Runkel, a junior, works 20 to 25 hours a week and would also like to join a teacher's union or SUB.

"I work too much and so I don't have time," she said. "But joining an organization would give me experience of being a leader."

Josh Turner, BSC's project coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group, said busy students have hampered NYPIRG's efforts.

"It's a weekly struggle in planning events around students' academic and work schedules," he said.

Turner said some NYPIRG projects make it easy for student to participate, as long as they are not time consuming. Such projects include:

  • petitioning drives
  • letter writing campaigns
  • voter registration

"It's proof that students want to be involved as much as they can but don't because of time restraints," Turner said.

Calderone pointed out that joining campus organizations could help students establish connections with people in the business in which they're hoping to find employment.

"It truly is all about networking and advancing yourself through those opportunities," he said.


Tom McCray, Bill Raffel and Tom Calderone discuss why it is important to get involved on campus.

Photo by Carlene Peterson