2008 Woodie Awards
Student elections coming in April
Matt Lanza, Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/15/06 Section: News
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Every Tuesday at noon in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Student Union, the Senate meets to discuss issues of importance to the student body. Here, elected or appointed student officials discuss issues such as the course repeat policy, equality amongst club sports, and the ongoing planning of the University District. These issues are important to the maintenance of student interests,
Voter turnout was very low last year, and ASI hopes to turn that around in the upcoming election.
"SSU elections turnout is very strong in comparison to national campuses and other CSU's," said Erik Dickson, Executive Director of ASI. "Although last year was a dip in both people applying to run and turning out to vote, we hope that this year we will see competitive races and a huge number of students show up and vote."
Competition in a campus election acts as an impetus to raise awareness of the election, better campaigning and more visual candidates. Megan Solomon, Public Relations representative for ASI, said that, "Becoming involved in a collegiate level student government is a unique experience; one that allows students to have a direct impact on the community and, in return, positively affects that student's career for the rest of her life."
The Senate is comprised of two student senators from each school: Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, Education, Science and Technology and Social Sciences, with two from the Graduate Studies program as well. There is also an ASI president, executive vice-president and vice-president of finance. The members of the Senate have a vote in passing resolutions that effectively summarize the collective student stance on an issue. To run for the senator of a particular school, the student's major must be a part of the school itself. In this manner each senator is well equipped to represent and advocate on behalf of their constituents, or academic peers.