The four student teams that applied for position of AUSA Senate President and Vice President spoke to approximately 50 students at the Candidates Forum in the Driscoll Lounge last Tuesday.
There are a total of eighteen elected positions on the AUSA Senate. President and Vice President along with two senators to represent the following departments: DCB, AHUM-SOCS, and NSME; Natural Sciences Mathematics and Engineering. Other students represented in Senate are off-campus students, on-campus students, sophomores, juniors and seniors. This year there are 44 candidates, nearly twice the number of last year’s participants.
The forum was made up of current AHUM/SOC Senator Justine Brew and On-Campus Senator Chris Sivavajchaipong, NSME Senator Chris Adams and three-year Pioneer Ambassadors member Micaela Morenz, Chair of Records Mary Keller and Sophomore Senator Megan Gonzalez, NSME Senator Kristen Weaver and junior Kavitha Kailasam, and Andrew Stone and Derek Nelson.
Students were given ten minutes to present themselves and what they would bring to campus if elected. Brew and Sivavjchaipong said they would try to build communication among the DU community members, build tradition, increase social events on campus and make Senate more accountable. Adams and Morenz said they were interested in creating a $40,000 scholarship that will be divided among undergraduate applicants, promoting diversity on campus and re-organizing the Senate. Keller and Gonzalez said that they will bring the Senate to students, enforce group leadership and increase parking as well as accessibility on campus. Weaver and Kailasam will increase communication on campus and create new programs and encourage existing ones.
Other issues addressed were better communication between students, faculty, and administration, more school spirit, student awareness and diversity. Candidates were of the opinion that communication among students was lacking, expressing a need for better networking of concerns throughout campus. Bringing on-campus parties back was one point of discussion. Students declared that partying was an important part of the college experience and a good place to meet people.
Running for On-Campus Senator are Jamie Skog, Matt Lira, Kretan Shah and Zachary Jason. For Off-Campus Senator are Gene In, Bryan Villano, Alison Abraham and Max Goldberg. Candidates for NSME Senator were Victoria Villescas, James Haug, Tina Papantonakis and Molly Isaacson. AHUM/SOC Senator candidates are Ana Nedergaard, Courtney Cole, Amber Kirchenschlager, Shantel Jones and Chris Dirgo. Running for DCB Senator are Stephanie Oplt, Jaime Conry, Milena Zilo and Ben Burke.
Voting for the AUSA elections ends May 14. To vote, click on the link on the AUSA Senate web page at http://www.du.edu/orgs/senate/html/senate/profiles.html.
