Yesterday, the Student Assembly (S.A.) announced Josh Jacobs ’06, Josh Katcher ’06 and Tim Lim ’06 as the elected freshman representatives, and Brandon Ashley ’05 as the elected transfer representative.
The vote was held on Tuesday, September 24, from 12:00 a.m. until 11:59 p.m.
Students voted electronically, using a pin number that was e-mailed to them. Fourteen freshmen ran for the three positions available and two transfer students competed for one opening.
Approximately 33 percent of the freshman class voted, while only approximately 19 percent of the transfer population voted, according to the Office of Assemblies. Jacobs took the most freshman votes, followed by Lim and then Katcher.
There was a Candidates’ Forum held on last Monday where the candidates discussed their views on program housing, graduate student unionization and their personal S.A. priorities.
Ashley, a student in the College of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), ran with the plan to, “lower extraneous costs.”
“I think that redundant fees are one of the biggest problems at the University,” Ashley said.
“There are ways in which the S.A. can be fiscally responsible but not compromising the great programs we have on campus,” he stated in his platform.
Ashley will push to have these fees integrated into the cost of tuition.
The three elected freshman representatives ran their campaigns together.
“We all had shown some interest in the Democrats on campus, so we all met there,” Katcher said.
If successful and elected, they believed they could accomplish more as a strong block.
Lim, a student in ILR, promoted himself through the slogan, “Running on the issues.”
He was, “glad that students realized the amount of work put into the campaign.”
His first initiative is to join the dining committee and reform the meal equivalency program.
His second goal is to put ResNet under the financial aid package.
“This is just another inefficiency in the administration,” Lim said.
At the Candidate’s Forum, Lim voiced a pro-union opinion.
“This move will open inroads for a lot of things because I don’t think that right now students have enough of a voice,” he said.
Katcher, a student in the College of Agriculture and Life Science, also wishes to join the dining committee and work on improving the efficiency of the dining halls. His other future plans include joining the finance committee, working to fix the overcrowding of the gyms and improving the quality of concert events.
Katcher also expressed his view on unionization of graduate students.
“They’re workers. They’re getting paid. They have the right to unionize,” Katcher said.
Jacobs, a student in ILR, is also interested in dining and ResNet improvements.
“I think it is ridiculous how expensive ResNet is compared with other schools,” Jacobs said.
He wishes to join the dining committee to campaign for, “some compensation for lost meals at the end of every week.” His other goals include providing affordable cable for all dorms and improving course exchange.
Despite the three freshman representatives’ similar plans, Jacobs said, “If all of us tackle different committees, we can all get our goals resolved.”
Archived article by Amy Green