Radack 'juggles' responsibilities

Originally published: Nov. 4, 2010
Publication: THE GLOBE

Cassandra Radack was appointed the School of Communications senator-at-large on Monday.

Her appointment raised questions of whether or not she will be able to handle the responsibility of the United Student Government (USG) while juggling positions in other clubs.

"I'm going to learn how they do everything and learn more about the structure of the school and then I would really like to almost be the voice of people who have really great ideas or who have concerns but don't want to bring them up or talk about them," Radack said. "I would really like to be the connection between people who have opinions and USG, and bring them to USG."

USG President Michael Potoczny hopes that Radack will bring "more opinion" and "more voice," to USG, as well as "energy."


"I actually interviewed two people for [the position] and she seemed the most excited and the most informed about the school and she had a strong desire to do the job," Potoczny said. "Those are characteristics that I look for in an appointment, and also that they searched me out. They came to me and she personally asked to talk about being on USG so that shows she has some excitement about doing it."

Along with her position in USG, Radack also holds the position of vice president in the Honors Society Organization (HSO) as well as vice president of marketing in College Students in Broadcasting (CSB).

"Those organizations or clubs are specifically driven to a certain type, a certain group of people. For instance, HSO is for the Honors students and College Students in Broadcasting are for mostly broadcasting majors, and USG is for the whole student body," Radack said. "Instead of just certain clubs targeting just certain groups of people, USG is for everybody, and I wanted to be part of an organization that helped the whole student body and all organizations as opposed to just one organization or another."

These previous commitments, however, led to questions from USG members before voting on the appointment. Senior at-large representative Veronika Panagiotou questioned if Radack's priority should be on HSO events since they have not been as successful as the past.

"I do not have any concerns because I feel that Cassandra will be committed member of USG.  Cassandra is a leader on campus, and by joining USG, she will be able to help students in the School of Communication," Panagiotou said in a later e-mail interview. "There are a few USG senators that balance multiple responsibilities in different organizations, and this truly makes them even more connected and committed to the student body."

Other questions raised included whether Radack would be able to make both USG meetings and HSO meetings, when USG meetings sometimes go as late as 6 p.m., and whether time conflicts would arise concerning Radack's involvement in HSO and CSB.

At the Monday night Legislative Body meeting, Radack was adamant in her dedication to USG.

"I really don't think that anybody should be worried, honestly, about my time commitment because I'm very organized and I'm very good with time management," Radack said.

Radack stated that HSO meetings are at 5 p.m. on Mondays, and for those meetings she already as the agenda and is in communication with Carleigh Dettorre, president of HSO. According to Radack, CSB would not be a conflict either, as the events take place at dates later in the week.

Potoczny also believes it should not be a problem.

"She just seems really dedicated to what she does, and although she is in multiple things
I don't think she's not going to be able to do the tasks that we give her," Potoczny said.

Radack feels her experiences in HSO and CSB will help her with her involvement in USG.

"I've learned a lot of things about leadership and working under and working with a lot of people who are opinionated and … I'm going to be open-minded, but at the same time I'm definitely going to state opinions that, if I don't agree with something, I'm going to state I don't agree with it and why," Radack said. "I'm not just going to go with the flow because I think a lot of the time people say things, just go with things, and I'm definitely just going to say what I feel and what I think is best for the student body."

Radack 'juggles' responsibilities