SGB hears from board hopefuls

The eight candidates vying for the vacant position on Student Government Board addressed… The eight candidates vying for the vacant position on Student Government Board addressed attendees at last night’s meeting.

“So,” President Shady Henien said, “this is where the fun begins.”

Candidates each had three minutes to give a speech explaining their respective platforms, followed by a five-minute question-and-answer session from students and board members.

“This is like the easy way into student government,” board member Sheila Isong said, encouraging those in attendance to show no mercy while interrogating the contenders.

Isong, along with the rest of the board members, endured the traditional election process and was chosen by a popular vote of the entire student body.

Despite Henien’s calls for a high student turnout, fewer than fifteen people – about half the number of students usually in attendance – came to the meeting.

Those in attendance, however, did not take it easy on the SGB hopefuls. Questions posed ranged from challenges to candidates’ credentials to responses to hypothetical scenarios.

“I can ask whatever I want,” Isong said, asking candidates trivia questions about the history of SGB.

“In this unique situation where we are, things are a little bit different,” junior SGB hopeful Lee Every said. Every cited the fact that whoever joins the board will only do so for a few months, until the annual elections are held.

“I think we need to focus on the issues at hand immediately right now,” Every said, emphasizing short-term projects including the establishment of a Giant Eagle shuttle system, which Henien officially announced at tonight’s meeting.

The crop of candidates provided a “diverse” selection, as Henien put it. While some of the candidates have experience working with SGB – including public relations committee chairman Perry Servedio, academic affairs committee chairwoman Nila Devanath, governmental relations committee chairwoman Erin Schaefer and freshman affairs committee member Cathy Park – other hopefuls do not.

“We need to assess and evaluate the word ‘experience,'” Every said. Every, along with other lesser-involved candidates, believes that they can better relate to students.

“You would be surprised how many students are like me,” sophomore candidate Megan Rerko, who is currently not involved in any student organizations, said.

“I think that this is a tough situation that we’re all in,” Schaefer said.

Also in the running for the open seat are juniors Gary Sanderson and Kevin Taylor.

The board members will have until next week’s meeting to decide who they will vote for. A simple plurality vote is all that is needed for a candidate to be elected, meaning that a candidate could potentially win the position with as few as two votes.

Henien does not receive a vote, unless it is to make a tie and force a re-vote including only the tied candidates.