Student government at Kent State East Liverpool is getting fired up again after fizzling out a couple years ago. The candidates had the opportunity to present themselves at a forum on Monday April 30. Voting will be held at the reception desk on the second floor of the main building on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
Anthony Underwood, director of Enrollment Management and Student Services, opened the event with the promise of more opportunities for participation in student government next year, including the position of voting representative. “Student government is important because they spend your money,” he said.
Underwood asked three questions of each candidate: “What are the biggest concerns of students at our university? What advantages can you bring to the office? What are the biggest challenges facing the campus?”
There are six candidates competing for President, two of whom were unable to attend Monday’s debate because of scheduling conflicts.
Richard Potts, a nursing student and East Liverpool native, has been a supplemental instructor of chemistry for two and a half years. He indicated that a lack of extra-curricular or recreational activities is a problem for the students, especially the incoming freshmen who enjoyed having physical stimulation at high school and now have nothing to do. Potts is concerned about how the state government’s freeze on tuition in addition to the reduction of state grant funds to the school will affect the students. He is confident that he can help bring the students and faculty together to improve the entire regional campus experience and eventually increase enrollment.
Callen Owens, also a nursing student and East Liverpool resident wants to see everyone get involved in extra activities, especially intramural sports like football. He cited a lack of cash as one of the biggest problems with the campus as a whole, but he knows that his positive, outgoing personality and organizational skills can help “get this place pumping, … and get some blood in the system.”
Computer technology major Jamie Walko declared: “This (student government) is where our networking system begins.” Some of her ideas for improvement include communication issues, such as a lack of notice to the student body about events or activities that take place. Security is another problem, according to Walko, especially because the school is relying on an e-mail system that doesn’t always deliver. As one of the founding members of the Computer Technology Club, she has insight into how clubs are formed and can use this knowledge to help get the ball rolling on even more activities.Finally, Amanda Webb pointed out that as Vice-President of the Harmony Alliance she already
is involved in student life and has had experience with fundraising and organizing events such as poetry readings. She recognizes that the student activities have been hung on overworked professors who don’t have the extra time to put into them.She claims that no one really knows what the students’ concerns are because there hasn’t been a government to represent them, so its hard to say. “People use this location as a stepping stone instead of taking it seriously, as a real campus,” Webb said. She would like to attract prospective students by raising the appeal.
Two candidates are running for Vice-President: Alana Criswell and Shalonda Respress.
Criswell believes that the greatest student concern is safety, and she would like to work on a viable system other than e-mail for alerting everyone quickly and efficiently about a threat of any kind in a reasonable time. Her organizational skills will be an asset to the office, and she believes there needs to be more accountability in lieu of professor call-offs. Respress is a supplemental instructor and math tutor
who is running for office because she cares about what is going on at her school. She describes herself as a friendly, flexible, “open-door” person to anyone who wants to opine to her. The biggest challenge for the campus is the lack of funding and resources, Respress said, and the best way to deal with that is to save money, perhaps through small changes such as energy efficient light bulbs. Money saved can pay for extra things for the students.The offices of Secretary and Treasurer remain open. After the election, appointees gleaned from those who earned the next highest number of votes will fill the seats.
