There are 96 candidates
vying for Senate seats, and by Friday, only 77 will remain.
As a group, the candidates include members of every
class and residence hall. Some have been interested in politics all
their life, others only recently. Some have years of experience in
student government; others are campaigning for the first time.
What they all have in common is a desire to represent
a group of students in making decisions affecting the entire campus.
“Since 9-11 I’ve been really paying close attention to politics,
government,” said junior Kristi White, a candidate for Lovill
Residence Hall. “I just thought this would be a really good way
to get involved and let a student’s voice be heard.”
“Before that, I didn’t much care,” continued Harris.
“But since then I’ve gotten more involved, tried to make
a difference.”
This is Harris’ first time running for a senate seat. While her
interest is recent, many of the candidates expressed a longer interest
with government.
“I’m interested in politics and the way things go in government,”
said junior Raymona Estep, a candidate for Belk Residence Hall. “I
thought getting involved with [SGA] would be a good way to get started.”
Estep was a senator from White Residence Hall last semester.
“My dad deals with politics. So my dad being a role model, I
definitely became interested at an early age,” said Jamian Polk,
a freshman and candidate for Frank Residence Hall. “That’s
always intrigued me, having that effect on the community.”
While this is Polk’s first year at Appalachian, he was involved
in his high school student government for four years.
“The first thing that made me get involved with SGA was the Higher
Education Act, [part of] which denies financial aid to anyone with
a drug conviction,” said senior Dustin Bayard, a candidate for
off-campus. “I just totally disagreed with that, and I figured
it was a good catalyst for me to get involved.”
“Everything is related to politics,” continued Bayard.
Bayard has been an off-campus senator the last two years, and ran
for vice president in last year’s SGA presidential elections.
Many of the candidates stressed the importance of being open to suggestion
and student involvement.
“I’ve been here for a few years, and I really like the students,”
said Harris. “I’m a very open person and I think people
can come talk to me.”
“I think a quality is being open to different opinions and bring
forth ideas that would make for teamwork,” said Polk. “One
of my main slogans is ‘be heard, not ignored.’”
“I’ve been kind of disheartened, right now I haven’t
seen a lot of people from the ‘left’ side of the spectrum
coming out to SGA,” said Bayard. “The people that supported
our [campaign] last year didn’t really take an interest in SGA
after we lost. They still need to be involved.”
Estep mentioned one of her particular goals was to continue working
on legislation involving the Career Development Center.
“One of my fellow senators started the idea last year, so it’s
been passed down to me and I feel obligated to make sure something
comes of it,” said Estep.
Other candidates are concerned about broader, more familiar campus
issues.
“I’d like to see the students more involved in the Boone
community,” said Harris.
“One of the major issues is diversity and getting the voice of
minorities heard on campus,” said Polk.
“We’re going to try to make this campus a lot more environmentally
friendly,” said Bayard.
Most candidates said they would try an informal approach in the campaign.
“I think just letting [residents] get to know me on a personal
basis, where they know my first name as well as my last,” said
Polk.
“I don’t think it’s going to be that difficult for
anyone in the senate,” said Bayard. “Senate elections usually
aren’t all out, get everyone involved, even though I think they
should be.” |
