Until midnight on April 25, the Student Government will be holding elections. The competitive executive positions are the President, Vice President, and Vice President for Finance. The following is a quick rundown of who is running, including the candidates' biographies and a synopsis of their platforms in order to help you make your decision on whom to vote for.  Be sure to take the time to look it all over; democracy only works when the people are well informed. After reading about the candidates, be sure to vote at the elections website or at the polling table in the University Center Wean Commons. More information about the executive position candidates' platforms can also be found at the elections website, in addition to information about students running for positions in Student Senate.

Justin Berka and Kelly Duncan (President and Vice President)
Berka is a sophomore economics major through the Science and Humanities Scholars Program, and was recently admitted to the Heinz School. During his time at Carnegie Mellon, he has served on the Undergraduate Student Senate, participating in the Internal Development Committee and the Committee on Student Organizations. He is also the Parking Chair on the Spring Carnival Committee, a member of the Presidential Student Advisory Council, and a member of the Dining Advisory Council. To top it all, Berka is a member of the Student Dormitory Council, and has served as the organization's president. Duncan is sophomore physics and math major and been a member of the Senate for a year and a half, serving on the Internal Development Committee, the Campus Life Committee, and the Joint Funding Committee. She is a member of the University Student Affairs Council and Dining Advisory Council. As far as clubs go, she is involved with The Tartan, the Physics Student Advisory Council, and Dancers' Symposium.  

Biographical information aside, Berka and Duncan are interested in providing a voice for students on some of the more significant campus developments such as the new Resnik Dining Concept and the soon-to-expire Parkhust Dining Services contract for campus food. They are also planning to move toward athletic and housing improvements, particularly focusing on the intramural fields and some of the less desirable housing areas. In addition to overall housing improvements, they also want to see more housing as well as co-ed housing available for students for the next room-draw. They feel that the solution to the issue of an increase in the Student Activities Fee lies in a committee that will research the issue. Once the results are in, Berka and Duncan plan to work with the Vice President for Finance in order to make the ultimate decision of how much students will spend on the fee. Don't worry though; they are all for keeping money in our pockets, as they also plan to fight against Carnegie Mellon's push for night and weekend student parking fees. Students' safety and mobility of are a concern too, as they hope to get the Escort and Shuttle services to run more often and with more stops, meaning less time sitting around waiting for a 59U. They will also hold regular "office hours" in easily accessible places such as the outside of Doherty Hall just in case we have something to say to them between classes. Finally, it is worth noting that although neither Berka nor Duncan is a part of the Greek community, they would be happy to help the Greeks out if approached.  

Dan Horbatt and Alan Eaton (President and Vice President)
Horbatt is a junior majoring in electrical and computer engineering. He has been a part of the Student Senate as a member of the Campus Life Committee. He has also held leadership positions in Kappa Delta Rho and Safewalk. Eaton is a sophomore in civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy, and has served Senate on its Joint Funding Committee. He is a member of Phi Kappa Theta.

Their platform is short and to the point:

"With recent events on campus it has become apparent that there is a growing divide between the student body, the faculty and the administration of Carnegie Mellon University. There have been numerous examples of where miscommunication has caused an uproar and animosity to grow between these groups. Should steps not be taken to bridge this gap, situations such as the Brofsky 'Walking to the Sky' installation, will occur with noticeable regularity. Our goal is to begin the steps to fix this escalating problem by bringing together representatives of the student body, the faculty and administration in an organized manner and facilitate proper communication and problem resolution practices."

Karl Sjogren and Andrea Hamilton (President and Vice President)
Sjogren is a junior majoring in decision sciences and human computer interaction. As if that weren't enough, he is also acquiring an accelerated Master's degree in public policy and management. He has served on the HCI Student Advisory Council, Greek Council, the MOSAIC Planning Committee, and the Gay-Straight Advisory Council. He is also involved with the Undergraduate Student Senate, SARC, Dancers' Symposium, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Scotch'n'Soda, the SPIRIT Fashion Show, ACLU, StepUp, and will be an Orientation Leader for Orientation 2006. Hamilton is a junior majoring in ethics, history and public policy as well as a self-defined art and visual sociology and cultural studies major. As one would hope, she is also a part of Student Senate, serving as chair of the Communications Committee and a member of the Committee on Student Organizations. She has served in the BHA/BSA Student Advisory Council and the History Student Advisory Council.

If elected, Sjogren and Hamilton will work to ensure that the student voice is heard in all University decisions that alter the face of our campus. Budding organizations will find friends in these two, as they hope to increase the amount of space available for clubs, and plan to orchestrate monthly meetings involving the Committee on Student Organizations and the various leaders of student organizations in order to increase communication between these executives. Housing and Student Life are also an issue on their list. They feel that higher levels of housing security and co-ed dorms are a must. Student safety is an important part of Sjogren and Hamilton's platform, as they will work for off-campus pick-up spots for the Carnegie Mellon Escort service, as well as more crosswalks and stop signs on campus by working with Pittsburgh City Council, the University administration, and Campus Police. Concerning the Student Activities Fee, they feel that the fee should only be increased after students have voted to do so, including a revote on this fee every two years. The two would also like to see a higher level of campus unity in general, and hope to work with several campus organizations to arrange Campus Gear Sales with free food that coincide with athletic events to promote school spirit. They also feel that the various Green Practices initiatives across campus and the entire Student Advisory Council system could both use some centralization, and would like to create University-wide standards for both of these things. On a more concrete level, they would like to see the ashtrays moved away from the entrances to campus buildings, since people aren't allowed to smoke there anyway. Finally, they are also supporters of Greek Life, and would like to see a stronger Greek Council and the formation of a Greek fund so that the Greek community can make cooperative decisions on spending.

More information on Sjogren and Hamilton's platform can be found at www.karlandrea.com.

Michael Bueti (Vice President for Finance)
Bueti is a junior in physics. He is a brother of Sigma Phi Epsilon and has served as a Labor Day Barbecue Chair. He has been a part of the Senate for the past year serving as the Chair of Academic Affairs, and what he lacks in Senate committee experience he makes up for in his involvement in the greater campus community.

Bueti's main concern is that there are not enough resources for campus organizations. He feels that although there have been significant improvements along these lines, there have also been several setbacks for some of the more mature organizations on campus. He would like to focus on looking into the ways that organizations are spending their money and whether or not the current system distributes money in the most efficient manner. In other words, he feels that there needs to be a better way to determine how much organizations actually spend as opposed to how much they predict they will spend. He would also like to address the issue of student organization space, the shrinking amount of it on the third floor of the University Center, and the loss of the spaces in the Old Student Center. Bueti would like to see a change in the way students use and are able to access space on campus. One solution he suggested would be looking into the use of academic rooms as meeting spaces for organizations during moratorium and after class hours.

Kirk Higgins (Vice President for Finance)
Higgins is a junior in mathematical sciences. He has served on the Student Senate for two years in the Finance Committee. Higgins has a history of contributing to Senate policy, as he introduced the Campus Events Media Policy, which guaranteed student media organizations access to all events funded in part by the Student Activities Fee and alerted Student Senate if a funded event seeked to restrict recording equipment, and has amended the Student Senate Fiscal Policy to be more flexible toward funding events hosted by religious and Greek organizations. Higgins also currently writes for The Tartan and is an active participant in SPIRIT. He helped found the Math Club and has also worked for CMU Health Services. He will be living at the Neville Co-op next year, working toward providing activities to the campus community.

If elected, Higgins plans to continue the work done by the current Vice President for Finance who has been working toward streamlining the process for student organizations to apply for renewal recognition from the Committee on Student Organizations and apply for funding eligibility and an annual budget from Joint Funding Committee. Overall, he is looking forward to finding ways to help student organizations obtain funding for the events are they planning from different avenues, and will try to create a brochure for student organizations to help them learn how to approach certain sources of funding on-campus, such as Student Senate, the Activities Board, and the Student Dormitory Council.

More information on Higgins' platform can be found at www.andrew.cmu.edu/~khiggins/vote.html. 

Now, go and vote!

Editor's Note: In the paragraph regarding Michael Bueti's platform, the sentence, "In other words, he feels that there needs to be a better way to determine how much organizations actually spend as opposed to how much they predict they will spend" originally ran as, "In other words, he feels that if there is a way to cut back costs, that would be the best solution." The new phrasing better reflects Bueti's platform. 

 talkback to the pulse