Last year’s Associated Student Government elections, with only six candidates running for four positions, were called apathetic. This year’s campaign should be anything but.
On Friday, 14 candidates announced they will run for ASG Executive Board positions. The official campaign period begins today, and elections will be held on April 10.
President
Displaying a mix of ASG experience and outside perspective, the five presidential candidates are Jordan Heinz, Anil Hurkadli, Howard Lien, Scott Badenoch and Jay Goyal.
Heinz, the current ASG executive vice president, wants to further define the president’s role in dealing with the administration, improving student interaction and establishing relationships with sources outside Northwestern, including Evanston’s aldermen.
Heinz’s opponent last year, former ASG Sen. Hurkadli, wants to enact ASG’s revised constitution. The proposed constitution was first introduced in 1998, and Hurkadli said it could still benefit students.
“There is a lot less accountability for what the Senate does now in the current constitution,” said Hurkadli, a Weinberg junior. “The new constitution would empower students by giving them more access to ASG members.”
Lien, who served as a senator earlier this year, and Badenoch, past president of Phi Gamma Delta and an Interfraternity Council member, also want ASG to focus on improving communication with students.
Badenoch said having no ASG experience is a positive quality.
“People that are filtered through ASG may not have fresh ideas,” said Badenoch, a Weinberg junior. “I think I’ll bring an interesting take to the election by seeing the student body as what it is, instead of from a specific viewpoint.”
Goyal, a member of the Progressive Alliance, advocates direct democracy through referenda and the creation of student review committees to monitor the administration.
“Most students don’t take an interest in ASG,” said Goyal, a McCormick sophomore. “The goal of my campaign is to get them to see it is worthwhile. When more people participate in government, you get better government.”
Executive Vice President
The race for executive vice president, the officer who oversees student groups, will feature three candidates currently involved in ASG. Candidates Art Janik and Hisham Zaid serve on the executive committee and Srikanth Reddy is a member of the Student Activities Finance Board.
Reddy said he wants the executive committee to play a more active role in representing student groups.
“I want group executives to have a knowledge of SAFB guidelines so they can help their groups use that knowledge to improve their programming,” said Reddy, a McCormick sophomore.
Janik’s platform stresses improving multicultural affairs by implementing a new committee and developing Norris into more of a focal point of student group programming. Zaid said he wants to add more non-senators to the executive committee, putting each committee member in charge of fewer student groups.
“The proposal would keep ASG as it is and help us gain insight from students,” he said. “Committee members will be able to give a greater focus to their groups.”
Student Services Vice President
The election for student services vice president also drew three candidates – Jada Black, Courtney Brunsfeld and Andrew Gustafson. Black, president of the Residence Hall Association, advocates planning more on-campus social events, including installing a bar in Norris, and starting a Perspectives Day where students could discuss diversity at NU.
Brunsfeld, president of College Democrats, wants to improve student life by publishing a directory of entertainment and dining opportunities and by enhancing multiculturalism on campus. She said NU’s shuttle services in particular need to be addressed.
“Many students don’t know when the shuttles are running, so they don’t use them,” said Brunsfeld, a Weinberg sophomore. “Daytime shuttles during the winter months could be extremely useful to students.”
Gustafson, who served as Bobb treasurer and a senator, wants to create more parking options on campus, expand student discount policies in Evanston, improve the Spring Break trip and offer shuttle service to the Mark 2 Lounge.
Academic Vice President
Three members of ASG’s academic committee, Ebo Dawson-Andoh, Michael Fong and Debkumar Sarkar, are running for academic vice president.
Dawson-Andoh said his main goal is to have the academic committee deal with more than Weinberg-related issues, as well as to establish a permanent subcommittee to monitor CAESAR.
“NU consists of five schools besides Weinberg and we should be researching ways to improve all of them,” he said.
Fong, a Weinberg freshman, wants to continue pushing for a full day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and to allow students to retake one class in their academic career with the new grade replacing the old one. Fong wants to phasing out grade point average at NU by 2006.
Sarkar’s platform calls for pursuing a full Reading Week for all schools, lowering the cost of textbooks, increasing the number of residential computing facilities and pushing for faculty diversification.
