SGB presidential candidate demands change

Student Government Board presidential candidate Joe Gookin is not only running against… Student Government Board presidential candidate Joe Gookin is not only running against candidates, he’s running against the system.

“I’m upset with SGB, but I am not going to say I am upset with certain people because I don’t believe in smearing people,” Gookin said.”[SGB] is so far off track it’s unreal.”

Junior Joe Gookin, an Army ROTC member and political science major from Meadville, Pa., decided a few weeks ago that running for SGB President would be a way to raise issues.

“I’ve always had an inkling about running, but I never really thought of it too seriously,” Gookin said.

“I’m in this to galvanize the student body at Pitt. We’re losing checks and balances because the student body is so disinterested.”

With Gookin joining the race, students again have four candidates to choose from in the upcoming SGB elections. Students were left with only three candidates after K. Chase Patterson left the race in October.

Gookin’s “Sweet Living” campaign will focus on issues including SGB spending, unchecked SGB spending for its own members and what Gookin calls the inaccessibility of the allocations process.

“Thursday night at 7 o’clock on the sixth floor of the union in a small corner room: that’s not exactly an open forum to the public or the student body. So, how are you going to make that connection from being just a regular student – in either a startup group or a group that doesn’t already get money – to getting allocated money from the student activities fund?” Gookin said, adding that he also wants to mend the communication gap between SGB and the student body.

While the other three presidential candidates are either current board members or ex-board members, Gookin also has an affiliation with SGB.

Gookin co-chaired the freshman affairs committee for three weeks during his freshman year. He was suspended from his position because of an alleged incident involving throwing condoms at a tour group on the floor of his dorm in Litchfield Towers.

Gookin was cleared of all allegations. He believes, though, that the SGB president at the time, Liz Culliton, did not appropriately deal with the misunderstanding. Gookin said that he became disenchanted with the politics of SGB and did not feel the need to continue with the organization.

“I was really disappointed in [SGB],” Gookin said.

If elected, Gookin would like to open up SGB to all students.

“[SGB is] such an outrageous clique. I mean, if you’re not in the circle of SGB, you’re not going to get anything out of it,” he said.

“People are going to say that I am jaded because of my personal experience, but the truth is, if you are not friends with the people in SGB, they are really not going to help you. That really, really bothers me,” Gookin added.

With just over two weeks left until the Nov. 16 SGB elections, Gookin plans to run a nontraditional campaign. Unlike other candidates, Gookin will not seek endorsement from student organizations.

“If someone endorses you, then they are going to want something back for their vested interest in you,” Gookin said. “If you are endorsed by a group, then when you are elected you owe special-interest favors to people. You are not making decisions clearly based on what is best for the student body.”

“You should run on the student body slate and with student body endorsements,” Gookin said.

Like presidential candidate Joe Salvatore, Gookin will not run with a slate.

“When you get on SGB, if you are on a slate you have an obligation to two other people to take a deeper look into voting the way that they are, which affects your own judgment.”

Gookin is not concerned with his performance in the elections

“I don’t even care if I win. I’m just out to tell the truth,” he said.