Upgrade to come
SGA considers changes needed for Web site
By Danny Gillham
Staff Reporter

Student Government Association President Brad Thompson admits SGA’s current Web site is not up to par.

“The one we have right now we don’t really like, so we are in the process of creating a new one,” said Thompson, a senior radio-TV-film major.

With outdated information and a format that is not easy to change, SGA is in the process of trying to make a new, up-to-date Web site.

Communications chairwoman Corrie Lockhart, a sophomore advertising and public relations major, said the site was last updated in spring 2003.

“The problem with the site being up and functional is that it is in Java, and we couldn’t change that easily,” Lockhart said. “Not many students know Java that well.”

Java is a computer programming language that can be run on the Internet.

Thompson said time is also an issue in updating the site. Students working on the site would change over, making one person have to play catch-up from the previous person’s progress, he said.

“Students get busy and they forget to do it, and we would forget to do it,” Thompson said.

The current Web site (www.sga.tcu.edu) shows information from last year’s Programming Council events and has former officers listed as current officers.

Kymberli McKanna, a junior musical theater major, said she likes the style of SGA’s Web site, but is disappointed in the old information.

“I appreciate the effort, but they didn’t follow through,” McKanna said. “If they don’t care enough to fully finish their pictures on the Web site, how does that seep into their ability to follow through with programs and projects for TCU?”

Lockhart said a solution to SGA’s dilemma may have been found through a current TCU student.
Matthew Madderra, freshman computer information science major, set up a Web site about SGA and showed it to his roommate, Academic Affairs Chairman Jose Luiz Hernandez.

“When I first met Jose, we were talking about hobbies,” Madderra said. “I mentioned that I’m into Web designing, and he mentioned the SGA site. It kind of took off from there.”

Madderra said his site is in HTML format, a much simpler language to understand than Java.
“With my program, it will not take long to add new information,” Madderra said. “If I got the information Tuesday night, it can be up by Wednesday morning.”

Thompson said along with updated information, he expects more items to be added to a new site.

“We want to have different links to your reps, so you will know who your reps are,” Thompson said. “It will be a lot more visual, and there will be access to documents and legislation.”

Madderra said he has not been told yet if his site will be used by SGA. If the organization decides to use the site, he said he will not have any problem being the webmaster for free.

“I do it because I like doing it,” Madderra said. “Some people see it as work, but I see it as a hobby.”