SGA gears up for '09-'10 leadership elections

Author: Jaime Fuller

Elections will be held on April 17 for the positions of Student Government Association (SGA) President and Student Co-Chair of Community Council (SCCOCC). By 5 p.m. today, the candidates will have turned in their petitions and letters of intent and the campaigning will officially begin.

On March 4, Max Nardini '08, current SGA president, gave an informational meeting for all potential candidates for these two positions. Many students attended the meeting, but as last year's unopposed victor Nardini attested, the field quickly winnows down.

Among those students who have decided to brave the campaigning process in order to get their voices heard are juniors Mike Tierney and Hiba Fakhoury. Both students have already established themselves as leaders in the Middlebury community and hope to use the position of SGA president to further their goals. Fakhoury is a First-Year Counselor from Brainerd Commons who also volunteers for the Middlebury Fire Department. This is the second election that Tierney has taken part in, as he tried out his campaigning skills running for the position of SCCOCC in his sophomore year, coming in second place.

Even though the campaigning period has not begun, both of these candidates have established a platform they believe will appeal to the student body.

"The main things I hope to accomplish are simple," wrote Tierney in an e-mail. "Money-saving steps to making the College greener, clearing walkways of ice and better drainage on campus, the housing situation, the social scene and getting us back our juice!"

Fakhoury is currently studying abroad and must rely on her network of friends to spread her message while she is thousands of miles away.

"It is certainly more stressful not to be there and I will have to spend more time on e-mails - and of course, Facebook," wrote Fakhoury in an e-mail. "But I believe that the help of my friends on-campus will make it possible."

Like Tierney, she also hopes to improve the campus's social life, but she also has a variety of aspects of Middlebury she wishes to improve. Her platform includes a call for more laundry facilities, campus-wide wireless Internet, extended hours for MiddRides and an online forum to increase involvement with SGA.

Antoinette Rangel '09 has shown interest for the position of Student Co-Chair of Community Council. She has served on the Community Council for two years and is ready to become an even more active member.

"As Co-Chair, I'd like to bring a range of issues to the Council," wrote Rangel in an e-mail. "Everything from evaluating the student work load, to addressing issues of the environment and sustainability, to assessing the quality of social life, to tackling subjects surrounding diversity."

All of the candidates seem to recognize that the student body desires change, especially in the arenas of social life and sustainability, and their similar platforms reflect this call for improvement. Andrew Ward '09, potential SGA presidential candidate, has a different idea of how to enact change on campus.

"I feel as if the SGA is just playing satellite government to [President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz's] five-year plan," wrote Ward in an e-mail. "That is why, if I were elected, my first act in office would be to dissolve the SGA."

As Nardini stated at the informational meeting, the two positions are very time-consuming and can take up many hours of the representative's week. But he thinks the positive aspects of the positions more than make up for the deficits it creates in personal time.

"Despite the fact that sometimes things would happen too quickly and be a little stressful, I really enjoyed being there for fellow students," said Nardini.

The SGA President's responsibilities include coordinating the work of the SGA Cabinet and Senate and staying in close contact with administrators regarding a large number of issues.

However, Nardini said, "One thing I have learned is the only power is the power to persuade."

This year's election is taking place a few weeks earlier than normal, and this is a part of Nardini's plan to make sure the next SGA president is equipped with all the knowledge he or she needs to be a successful representative.

"Last year, the elections were held in the last week of classes and that was not pleasant for me," said Nardini. "By holding the elections in the second half of April, it will better enable whoever wins to ask a lot of the questions [I had]."

Nardini ended the meeting by telling the potential candidates to enjoy the campaigning process, and that "one of the best parts of being SGA president was campaigning."

"I went around handing out lollipops and candy and had a great time," said Nardini. "It was a great experience to meet people all over campus regardless of the outcome [of the race]."