Involvement, freedom concerns in president’s race

Students head to the polls this week to choose among three candidates vying to lead the Student Government Association.

Candidates Sara Khalifa, Rusty Kuciemba and Jamie Newburn agree more can be done to ensure the student voice is being heard about student activities, concerns and needs.

Students can cast their votes Wednesday and Thursday at ballot boxes located in the University Center and the Herrington Patriot Center or on Blackboard.

Khalifa, a junior business management major, currently serves as SGA vice president. She said she would like to speak to student organizations to get their voices heard along with talking to professors.

“Right now I’m in eight organizations, so I feel that I am getting different perspectives and not just one view,” she said.

She said she believes she can “turn SGA around and be more open to the students.”

Kuciemba, a graduate student in business, said he wants to increase the number of freedoms students have on campus including possessing alcohol for students 21 and older as well as challenging a potential smoke-free campus.

“If you are 21, you should have that right,” Kuciemba said. “It is perfectly legal for someone 21 to own alcohol, and they shouldn’t have that taken away.”
Kuciemba said he also would like to record SGA meetings and broadcast them on YouTube to better inform students who are unable to attend.

Newburn, a senior psychology major, said he wants the SGA to get more involved on campus.

“There is more that can be done,” he said. “I’d like to see more government things being done not just events.

Newburn is completing his first year as a senator for the College of Education and Psychology.