Campaigns begin for student government

Campaigns for Student Government  Association senate and executive offices are underway and presidential candidates are working to enhance the visibility of SGA on campus.

Petitions signed by USD students for SGA senators and executive teams are due at noon Feb. 16. The elections will take place March 3-4 when students can vote online through D2L or at designated polling stations on campus. 

Although student involvement is necessary to elect representatives, sophomore Nick Kellen said he is among the USD students who are not informed about SGA, which has direct responsibility in appropriating more than $200,000 of student fees to campus organizations.

“I don’t know a lot about SGA or what they do,” Kellen said. “If they think that what they do is important and has impact, then they should work something out where students actually know about it and can be involved.”

Sen. Blake Alberts, an SGA presidential candidate, said the organization has a get out and vote awareness campaign along with a senate recruitment campaign.

“I think it’s an ongoing process,” Alberts said. “(President) Ryan Budmayr and (Vice President) Taylor Ptacek really wanted to make an effort to restore SGA to the standing that it had prior to impeachment problems, and in doing that we have more of a presence and more credibility than last year.  I think that’s important.”

Alberts said it is important for students to know what SGA does and how much the organization is responsible for. The organization appropriates money to organizations, but it  also has oversight on the student fees through the General Activity Fund committee.

“Students need to realize that whether they see what we’re doing or not, it is important to their pocketbook,” Alberts said.

Freshman Levi Froke said he doesn’t have the time to be involved with SGA but thinks students should be knowledgeable about the organization before voting in the upcoming election. The organization should have better advertisement about the organization’s responsibilities, but students should also take the initiative to learn about SGA, he said.

“Be a part of the decision-making process,” Froke said.  “It’s your money.”
When sitting at an SGA meeting with only six senators out of 21 seats last year, sophmore Tim Carr, SGA senator and presidential candidate, said he would never let that happen again. This year, the election will be competitive and the situation will be different, he said.

“Competition is a great thing,” Carr said.  “Student government shouldn’t be an exclusive club. If you don’t have enough people running to fill the seats then they don’t really represent the student body.”

Alberts said he hopes the majority of current senators will be returning to SGA next term.

“There is a definite value on new senators and new view points,” Alberts said. “But I think it’s critical that as many current senators return as possible. Institutional memory is vital in any college organization and we can’t afford to lose the majority of our current senators.”

Reach reporter Ngoc Thach at Ngoc.Thach@usd.edu.

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