SMC candidates begin campaigns
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
News Writer
Candidates vying for the top two positions in student government officially start their bids for office today, as the 2002 election officially gets underway.
Two tickets will campaign this week running on a variety of issues, ranging from extending dining hall and library hours to increasing the capabilities of detex cards and making student government more accessible.
Candidates have from noon today until 5 p.m. Friday to get their platform promises across to students — leaving student politicians only three and one half days to hit the campaign trail.
"It's not hard to know the majority of your class or even 50 percent of the student body because the school is so small," Crawford said.
Campaigning on the theme "Getting the Job Done," Kim Jensen will run for president with vice-presidential candidate Elizabeth Jablonski-Diehl.
The pair has identified continuing Saint Mary's Pride, making Student Academic Council available to students, working to add a study day to the academic calendar, improving dining hall food and advancing detex card capabilities as priorities in their platform. The ticket also promises to work toward making student government offices accessible and developing stronger relations with students and faculty in the platform statement.
The second ticket, running on the theme "More Access, More Security, Less Worries" is composed of Caroline Coughlin for president and Jeanna Winchester for vice-president.
The ticket's platform promises to extend library hours on weekends and during midterms and finals, extending dining hall hours, decreasing student parking ticket fines and adding study days. They also aim to increase the accessibility of Information Technology, add a student bulletin board to the Web site so students can place advertisements in absence of all-school e-mail access and add Munch Money for off-campus students. They also want to add call waiting and caller ID to the phone systems and provide a salon for campus.
The student body will have the chance to ask questions of the tickets at Wednesday's "Meet the Candidates" Night at Haggar College Center in the Chameleon Room at 7 p.m.
Voting will occur on Monday in the dining hall during mealtimes. All students, including seniors and students traveling abroad next year, may vote. Off-campus students can vote in the off-campus student lounge.
Sarah Rykowski
contributed to this report
All News Stories for Tuesday, January 22, 2002
