Campaigning for Associated Student Government’s campus-wide elections begins today.

The ASG election commission confirmed Friday evening that SESP sophomore Alessio Manti and Weinberg sophomore Adam Thompson-Harvey will be running as president and vice president against SESP junior Claire Lew and Weinberg sophomore Hiro Kawashima.

Manti, who owns MyCat Enterprises LLC-the organization that started the Deuce Caboose, among other services at Northwestern-said he decided to run for ASG president because of the vast resources ASG possesses for solving problems at NU, such as funding and connections to University administrators. He said these resources are not used to their maximum potential. Manti served on two ASG subcommittees during his freshman year but left student government this year to focus on MyCat, he said.

“I started MyCat because we saw problems on campus that ASG couldn’t handle or couldn’t solve … but there are a lot of things ASG can do that MyCat can’t,” Manti said.

“We do a lot with very limited resources. There is incredible potential with ASG resources.”Manti said he chose Thompson-Harvey, a self-described ASG “outsider,” as his running mate because he has a different set of experiences at NU, but the two “share a common vision for what ASG and this student body can do.”

Thompson-Harvey said he feels qualified to be vice president because he has held executive board positions in three organizations this year. He is the outgoing treasurer of For Members Only, the social chairman of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and a founder of the Chicago Area Mentoring program.

As a student group leader, Thompson-Harvey said he has been affected by ASG even though he has not been directly involved in it. If he is elected, he said he hopes to apply a “student group mentality” toward the position of vice president.

“I understand what it takes to inspire people and motivate them,” he said. “Sometimes, there is this disconnect and elitist mentality about ASG. We are trying to change this mentality.”

Lew has served on the ASG Executive Board as public relations vice president for the past year. Before that she served as ASG treasurer and during her freshman year she was the senator from Allison Hall.

She said she decided to get involved with ASG as a freshman because she “came to Northwestern loving it,” and saw ASG as the “best vehicle for improving student life.” She said she hopes to help the organization reach its peak.

“The reason that I wanted to be a part of ASG is not because of the organization itself, but because I saw its potential,” Lew said.

Kawashima said he currently serves as the executive director for the non-profit organization Supplies for Dreams and president of Dream Sure Group, LLC-a development and marketing consulting firm. He said these leadership positions have taught him to work with people, make an organization efficient and productive and determine the capacity of an organization.

Kawashima served as the ASG senator for Shepard Residential College last year and said when he stepped down from the position he was “very disappointed in ASG.”He said if he and Lew are elected, he hopes they can “reorganize the organization” and also provide a smooth transition from the current ASG administration.

“Claire really has the foundational values that are important in reorganizing ASG and progressing the projects that are already going on,” Kawashima said. “I saw this as an opportunity for the McGee administration to pass the baton. … They have been doing a good job and we need to make sure that the conversation with the administration keeps on going.”

Both campaign platforms revisit issues that have appeared in previous ASG elections, such as improving the shuttle system.

Other issues at the forefront of the Manti/Thompson-Harvey platform include green technology, better cell phone reception on campus, WildCARD use off campus, a more effective lobbying approach to the administration and a student-run capital campaign to raise between $250,000 and $300,000 for improvements to student services.

Manti and Thompson-Harvey said they want to involve the entire NU community-not just ASG Executive Board members-in lobbying the administration about important issues to students. Additionally, they said the funds raised through their proposed capital campaign will give both ASG and the student body a greater ability to influence and improve student services.

So far, Lew and Kawashima are still in the process of integrating their platform issues, Kawashima said. He said they are creating an interactive Web site to allow the student body to offer feedback to the candidates about what issues are most important to them.

Lew and Kawashima said they plan to address meal plan changes, off-campus issues, including the possible introduction of an off-campus housing coordinator, and various safety issues ranging from research on alcohol amnesty to improved lighting on campus and residential life improvements.

The candidates have nine days to campaign until the April 14 campus-wide election, in which students will elect a new ASG president, vice president, academic vice president and student life director. Gabrielle Daniels, a Weinberg sophomore, and Zach Wittchow a Weinberg junior, are running for the academic vice president position, while McCormick sophomore Katie Bradford and Weinberg freshman Jonathan Friedman are running for student life vice president.[email protected]