Student Association Presidential Election

Ladies and Gentleman it is time to vote for a new Student Association President. Unfortunately current S.A. President Steven Dimarzo’s reign has come to an end. We must mover forward with the student government here at SUNY Oswego and elect one of the new candidates. The two candidates are John Hughes and Michael Colucci. Both of these young men would be great for the position and can provide positive leadership to the campus. I did receive an email from one of these young men and the message and platforms he has is quite innovative. The email is listed below.

Hey Everybody!

“It appears now more than ever, we need to bring a change to SUNY Oswego. Residential and commuter parking is a nightmare, our book prices keep soaring and it appears that every administrative office on campus has created a load of bureaucracy for our students. If you’re involved with a student organization, it may seem even worse, as Student Association has been constantly changing its policies without informing organizations, and then penalizing them when they unknowingly don’t follow them. Most organizations, and are forced to deal with the monopoly of the pricey Auxiliary Services.

My name is John Hughes, and I am running for SA president to change this! As someone who has been involved with Student Association for three years, I feel SA has lost its focus. Instead of being a forum where students can voice their concerns to their student government, it has become too focused on creating policy, distributing funds and penalizing organizations. This is simply not the role that a student government should play on a college campus. During my time in SA, I helped allocate over $26,000 to various organizations, advocated the General Education Committee to add over 50 classes to their approved gen ed list, and last spring I chaired the Senate’s Reform Committee which talked to over 1,000 students to hear their concerns and passed resolution demanding the campus administration to address those concerns. During this past year, my committee’s resolution was able to extend Late Night, add Won Ton House to Plus Plan, create a fairer room and table reservation policy and bring Fall Break Day back to the 2011-2012 calendar.

If elected president, I would like SA to be dedicated to be fighting for student’s rights. I plan on taking SA outside it’s office in the Point, by having office hours in the Campus Center Spine and having my e-board and myself attend as many hall council, RHAB and organizational meetings as possible, which would allow us talk to as many students as possible. I hope that in this effort, we can hear students’ problems and actively address their concerns with the administration. However, in order to bring change, I need your help, your vote, so I can be elected Student Association President. Voting is this Thursday and Friday, via e-mail. If you would like to learn more about my platform, feel free to visit http://www.johnhughes.tumblr.com, for more information”.

Respectfully,
John Hughes

I am not endorsing either candidate but I did want to share the information I had with the campus. Elections will be held March 3rd and Fourth electronically. It is imperative that each student participate and provide some input on who will be controlling the Student Association and how our Student Activity Fee will be spent. I will be casting my vote early thursday morning and I hope you will do the same!