Low numbers may leave SGA seats open
April 14, 2011
Tomorrow, elections will begin for next year’s class of Student Government Association (SGA) representatives.
The positions up for grabs are student body president, student body vice president, as well as presidents and four senators for every class.
Despite SGA gearing up for elections, as of April 7, there were only a few students who had officially submitted applications.
“There aren’t as many as I would have liked, but the last time I checked there were eight people signed up,” Senior Class President Amanda Fichter said.
Although there are only eight people signed up for the 22 positions, Fichter said she’s not concerned that there will be a repeat of what happened in December to fill a senior senate seat. At semester, a senior senate seat went unfilled after nobody expressed interest in seeking the position.
“I know sometimes, especially at semester, students don’t want to take on anything,” Fichter said. “They’re comfortable with where they’re at, or if they do want to take something on, they’ll want to take on something knew, and sometimes right in the middle of SGA it’s hard to jump right in. It might be a little intimidating for them.”
Fichter also said the fall is the perfect time for SGA.
“I’m real confident that people will want to take charge in the following year,” Fichter said. “There’s always a huge interest with the beginning of a new year to take on SGA positions.”
Sign-ups ended on April 12, and were advertised through a number of mediums.
“We’ve been putting fliers out for the past couple weeks,” Fichter said. “We have it on the Student Government Facebook page, I believe we have it on Twitter, and I send an email out twice a week to get the word out.”
A survey of 10 students in Dunn Library found that four of them would definitely vote in the SGA election, three would not, and three were unsure or would if they knew they were eligible to vote.
Sophomore John Warnke said he plans to vote in the election.
“I have some friends who are running and I want to support them,” Warnke said.
On the other hand, sophomore Kati Herr said she would not be voting in the election.
“I live off-campus now, so I don’t pay attention to what goes on up campus,” Herr said.
Senior Meagan Gamble was unsure if she was eligible to vote as someone who is graduating, but expressed that she would vote if she was allowed to.
“I would vote if I can, but since I’m graduating, I don’t know if it’d be appropriate since I would be a part of the constituency,” Gamble said.
Fichter said that a number of current SGA members have expressed interest in returning.
“I know currently Tyson Wirtz (student body vice president) and PJ Salais (junior class senator) are interested,” Fichter said. “Those are the only two that have actually put in their applications, but I’ve heard others say they are interested.”
Voting begins tomorrow, and ends on April 20.