Interview with Student Body President Justin Young
by Tim Nelson

For most students, the new semester means new books and a fresh start.

But that's not the case for Student Body President Justin Young.

"For me, it's just continuation of all the things that were going on over the semester," he says.

The winter vacation rest and relaxation was short-lived for Carolina's SBP, and he's been back to the grind for weeks at the job he calls "all-consuming."

"I'd say it definitely is a 24/7 job," says Young.

"I've had dreams before about issues and dealing with them, you know sitting at a table saying, 'We should be doing it this way, we should be doing it that way'."

But for Young, sleep is rare. Many of his waking hours are spent working on issues he simply calls, "The Big Three" - Qatar, parking and tuition.

Young calls student government's work on Qatar a "success" and says the student parking and tuition issues are "works in progress."

But working with administrators in South Building has been frustrating. The SBP says the administration steamrolls students in the decision-making process.

"I think it's completely negligent to go out and come up with this preconceived notion of what should happen and push it through and basically give the semblance that you are treating students and their input as a mere afterthought," he says.

Young's solution is simple: from the chancellor on down, he wants a greater commitment to involving students.

"We're all in this together, we should be in this together as a team, and I think that's the main philosophy in my eyes."

With the campaign season beginning next week, Young hopes his successor will share that philosophy. His term hasn't been easy and isn't over until April, but Young has no regrets.

When asked if he would do it all over again if he could, Young says, "Absolutely, absolutely. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat."


Student Body President Justin Young .