During SGA Campaign Week, the two presidential candidates dressed up in large sumo wrestler costumes at the Tennessee versus USC Upstate baseball game on March 23. This was something Fuse Party candidate Tommy Jervis, a self-described introvert, would have never done in the past.
“I was extremely quiet in high school,” he said. “I was more concerned about getting good grades than anything else. I came here, and I was like, I gotta get out of my safe zone. I gotta get out of my little niche.”
At the baseball game, as “Shout” played in the background, Jervis thought about how the costumes did not look heavy when he saw this done at hockey games before. He soon discovered how wrong he was.
“Actually the guy down there (on the field) had to help us,” Jervis said. “We had to take our shoes off, and we couldn’t even bend over to put our shoes on.”
Later that week, Jervis would become SGA President-elect. It was a major deviation for Jervis, who didn’t describe himself as the leader type.
“I’ve always been kinda like the behind-the-scenes person,” Jervis said. “I’ve never been in the forefront. I didn’t like being in the forefront. I always like doing my thing, getting it done and that being the end of it.”
For a student who hadn’t been farther west than Oxford, Miss., this was a major change.
“I grew up in Franklin (Tenn.) all my life, and that’s all I knew,” he said.
Jervis got involved in Freshman Council during his freshman year and immediately fell in love with SGA.
“When you join a fraternity or something, those guys, all guys, are kinda like, ‘We’re all here for the same reason,’” he said. “But when you join SGA, you have all different types of personalities. You have all different kinds of backgrounds. You have all different kinds of stories.”
But it still was a surprise when he was asked to run for president. He had to think about it, but a talk with his mom helped him commit to the nomination.
“It took about two weeks for me to actually decide,” he said. “I was talking to my mom, and I was like, this is not my personality. My mom was like, ‘Give it a shot. You’ve never taken a chance in your life. Make this your big chance.’”
Jervis said he’s immediately benefited.
“I took that chance, and I think I’ve grown exponentially as a person,” he said.
Student Services Director-elect Avery Howard said he could not imagine anyone else leading the Fuse campaign.
“I’ve known Tommy for awhile, but I really got to know him over the course of this campaign,” Howard said. “... It’s long, long weeks and long, long hours (during the campaign), but he is the right person for the job. And he has worked so hard, and he will work so hard for the students.”
Jervis encouraged anyone who is even remotely interested in student government to get involved with SGA.
“They have nothing to lose,” he said. “I think that’s what my biggest fear was. I was like, if I lose, I’ll have to go to Spain or something.”

New ideas from new candidates

With the Fuse Party candidates assuming their new positions in SGA comes also plenty of new ideas the party hopes to implement over the next year.
One new project on tap is Smokey’s List, a Craigslist-esque network that would help students find services they are looking for like books to buyback or apartments to sublease.
Students wishing to sell books or advertise subleases could connect with these students, with Smokey’s List serving as the third party for the negotiations.
Jervis said the service hypothetically would be completely secure, with people logging in with their UT ID and password. The service could possibly include staff and faculty as well, and it would involve no money exchange.
Jervis said the service, which will have its webmaster appointed this week, fits in with a changing technological world.
The Fuse Party is targeting Christmas for Smokey’s List to be available for students, Jervis said.
Another new idea that Fuse hopes to institute is VolValues, which would make UT IDs effective at participating retailers on the Strip and possibly Market Square.
Jervis said the service would help students who were out-of-state that had banks not in the area or students who do not have bank accounts. They could add money to their card and use it at the participating retailers.
Howard said it would make monetary situations more convenient for students.
“It would make your student life much more easier and better in general because your parents won’t have to worry about putting money in your checking account and your All-Star account,” Howard said.
Jervis said the only possible hang-up with the new service would be implementing the new equipment to swipe UT IDs at the retailers.
Fuse’s new online syllabus database would inform students about classes more than the simple paragraph provided in course descriptions.
In addition, specific class section syllabi would show what each class plans to go over and which books the classes use.
Jervis said the database would result in students dropping classes less. Now, he said, students read minimalistic course descriptions and then drop when classes don’t match up with their expectations.

SGA becoming transparent, accountable

One of the main platforms of the Fuse Party campaign was making more and more information about SGA available to students.
The SGA Web site, which had been limited due to lack of space previously, recently added more space to its capabilities.
A suggestion box was created to allow students to voice their comments and criticism anonymously. The box received 30 responses in its first three hours of functionality, Jervis said.
“(The suggestion box) allows students to hold nothing back,” he said. “I think right now they’re afraid to tell SGA, ‘I think this sucks’ because they’re afraid their name’s going to be on it, and they don’t want their name plastered all over this stuff with this negative feedback.”
Jervis said he wanted to improve SGA transparency by making more information public like how many meetings senators attend, how they vote on bills and which events they attend.
“Diversity Week, we had a couple of weeks ago,” he said. “And we went, and literally there was no SGA representation there. And it stinks that your own organization can put on such great events, and nobody shows up.”
He said if SGA officials do not perform their duties, regardless of friendships or any extenuating circumstances, they will be dismissed, and SGA will seek new representation. Through semester evaluations, SGA will assess senator performance.

Meal plan modifications

The Fuse Party hates that you pay for so much for an unlimited meal plan without more swipes.
Jervis said the new administration will push for changes to meal plan, which would increase the capabilities of unlimited meal plan, allowing for more than one swipe per meal period — breakfast, lunch and dinner.
He said the plan would provide “better bang for your dollar” and “would entice more people to get unlimited.”
Jervis himself struggled with the restrictions.
“You have a noon o’clock class, and you wake up to have breakfast,” he said. “Why should that one breakfast meal that you had that morning get wasted? You lost that forever. Why should that be lost forever?”
While Jervis said their ideal would provide more swipes, it would still not be technically “unlimited,” with a cap placed at probably three swipes per meal period. Even with the increased functionality, Jervis hoped the price for unlimited meal plan could stay the same if the changes were instituted.

R-E-C-Y-C-L-E recycle, C-O-N-S-E-R-V-E conserve

Just a passing glance at the Fuse Party’s platform shows its attention to recycling as a major issue.
Jervis’ commitment to recycle was instilled in him at an early age.
“Growing up, my mom was a huge recycler,” he said. “I grew up, if you had a soda drink or if you had something in plastic, you’d always wash it out and put it in this little bag that we had, and they came by every week. So I grew up being very green.”
And Jervis said that recycling on campus now is too difficult, due to lack of receptacles. The campaign hopes to add five new recycling dispensers.
“We’re kind of hitting up the heart of campus,” he said. “We’re going to see if people notice it in that area and how effective those are.”
Overall Jervis was optimistic about the future.
“I feel like next year’s going to be a great year,” he said. “I know next year’s going to be a great year. I’m going to make it a great year.”