SGA Election Kicks Off
Meredith Byers
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: News
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SGA elections will take place on April 17, and campaigning season is already in full swing.
Since campaigning began on Saturday, April 5, candidates have been making every attempt to get ready for Election Day. Emily Taylor '08, the sitting SGA president, said most candidates campaign by chalking, flyering, making Web sites and business cards, putting up posters in the dining halls, visiting student organizations, making announcements, writing on chalkboards, or holding a 'meet and greet' to talk to students.
Positions to be filled by the elections include SGA president, diversity committee chair, curriculum committee chair, Academic Honor Board secretary, as well as the usual class of 2010 and 2011 cabinet positions.
In addition to the elections, committee appointments are also slated to occur. SGA Elections and Appointments Chair Megan Gallo '10 explained that this year "there have been an abnormal number of circumstances in which committees have needed new appointments."
"The designated list of committees to which ENA (Elections and Appointments) appoints varies every year," Gallo said. "My committee is currently working on putting together a solid list." Gallo has the committee chairs or current committee members come to sit in on the interviews.
"My committee members and I take their input very seriously, and then make our decision from there," she said.
Taylor offered some advice for the candidates: "Get out there and meet as many people as possible," she said. "After you visit organizations, hold events, visit houses, have people come and ask you questions, go all out and just be there. You're running on caffeine for the entire week. Just be out there and show your dedication to what you're running for."
Taylor, who spent the first semester of her junior year in Washington, D.C., with Smith's Picker program, did not hold an SGA position during her junior year.
On Monday,April 14th, the Election Extravaganza, a presidential-style debate, will give the candidates a chance to discuss key issues. The event, moderated by Tom Riddell, acting dean of the college, will be catered. The candidates will be asked questions that were previously submitted. Only general questions - those applying to all three candidates - will be asked. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the Carroll Room of the Campus Center. The polls will close at 9 p.m. on April 17.
Turnout for last year's election was "pretty exceptional," said Gallo. "The problem with spring elections is that many seniors are under the false notion that they cannot vote. This is definitely not the case."
"In order to get the word out and correct the rumor, I plan on doing a lot of advertising for voting," she said.
Interested students can get involved by contacting the candidates via e-mail. Students can get involved in SGA committees by contacting Megan Gallo by e-mail at mgallo@email.smith.edu.