{"643728":{"#nid":"643728","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Community Encouraged to Contact Their Representatives on Feb. 3","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Wednesday, Feb. 3, the Student Government Association (SGA) is asking members of the Georgia Tech community to contact their elected officials and talk about what\u0026rsquo;s important to them. The daylong event, called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/linktr.ee\/ringyourrep\u0022\u003ERing Your Rep\u003C\/a\u003E, is being hosted by SGA\u0026rsquo;s government relations committee.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite what the name suggests, Ring Your Rep isn\u0026rsquo;t just about making phone calls. Participants can also email, fill out a contact form online, or reach out any other way that their representatives are accessible. The committee encourages people to talk to any and all of their representatives (local, state, or federal) about issues that matter to them. Many offices will have staff members specifically dedicated to logging constituent opinions and passing them up to the elected official.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We saw exciting student participation in the November and January elections, but it\u0026rsquo;s important to remind students that civic engagement doesn\u0026rsquo;t stop at elections,\u0026rdquo; said Kate Cullen, co-chair of the government relations committee. \u0026ldquo;Being an engaged citizen means learning to advocate for causes you are passionate about, that affect you.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the easiest ways for people to reach their representatives in Congress is to call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121. Georgia residents looking to contact their state representatives can start with the state\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.legis.ga.gov\/find-my-legislator\u0022\u003EFind Your Legislator\u003C\/a\u003E page. For those not wanting to talk on the phone, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/democracy.io\/#!\/\u0022\u003Edemocracy.io\u003C\/a\u003E lets you input your street address and write a custom message to your congressional representatives without having to type in their individual emails.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe government relations committee will be hosting virtual office hours on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bluejeans.com\/931845404\u0022\u003EBlueJeans\u003C\/a\u003E from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for anyone who wants to drop in with questions or simply have someone help them contact their representatives.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Your representatives depend on your input to effectively represent your interests,\u0026rdquo; said Samuel Ellis, SGA\u0026rsquo;s vice president of external affairs. \u0026ldquo;I hope that students leave this event feeling empowered to contact their representatives and make calling politicians a part of their habits as involved citizens.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore information and resources about how to find your elected officials, sample scripts and tips for calling offices, and potential issues to talk about can be found \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/linktree.com\/ringyourrep\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe event, Ring Your Rep, encourages talking to officials about issues in whatever way possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The event, Ring Your Rep, encourages talking to officials about issues in whatever way possible."}],"uid":"34946","created_gmt":"2021-02-01 20:14:34","changed_gmt":"2021-02-01 20:59:16","author":"gwyner3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-02-01T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-02-01T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"629348":{"id":"629348","type":"image","title":"Georgia State Capitol","body":null,"created":"1574706476","gmt_created":"2019-11-25 18:27:56","changed":"1574706476","gmt_changed":"2019-11-25 18:27:56","alt":"A photo of the Georgia State Capitol","file":{"fid":"239680","name":"iStock-89137751.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/iStock-89137751.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/iStock-89137751.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":752032,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/iStock-89137751.jpg?itok=lyL-S33-"}},"633908":{"id":"633908","type":"image","title":"Gold SGA logo","body":null,"created":"1585602645","gmt_created":"2020-03-30 21:10:45","changed":"1585602645","gmt_changed":"2020-03-30 21:10:45","alt":"Circle with \u0022Seal of the Student Government Association Est. 1922\u0022 in gold, the letters SGA with Tech Tower, and Tech\u0027s name and motto.","file":{"fid":"241204","name":"Gold SGA Logo.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Gold%20SGA%20Logo_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Gold%20SGA%20Logo_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2409658,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Gold%20SGA%20Logo_0.png?itok=SdMRWnlk"}}},"media_ids":["629348","633908"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/linktr.ee\/ringyourrep","title":"Ring Your Rep Resources"}],"groups":[{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"166922","name":"sga"},{"id":"166923","name":"student government association"},{"id":"6747","name":"elected officials"},{"id":"346","name":"congress"},{"id":"7784","name":"Georgia General Assembly"},{"id":"2325","name":"Government Relations"},{"id":"186895","name":"state relations"},{"id":"67621","name":"federal relations"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:gwyner3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGrace Wyner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}