Nagle, Matha take office
By AMY GREENE
News Writer
Michelle Nagle and Kristen Matha are the newly elected Saint Mary's student body president and vice president, concluding an uncontested campaign.
"It feels really good to have won," said Nagle. "We're really excited to get started and we're happy with the results and ready to move forward."
Nagle and Matha received 63 percent of the student vote with 36 percent of the students abstaining. However, only 25.4 percent of the student body participated in the election, resulting in 16 percent of the student body who actually voted for Nagle/Matha.
"We tried to do as much campaigning as possible to get people to vote," said Nagle. "Some people may not have voted since only one ticket was running, but people need to know that their vote does matter and they need to voice their opinions and concerns," she said.
The voter turnout percentage was lower in part because abroad students were included in the election percentages. This is the first year abroad students had the opportunity to vote via e-mail and since most decided not to vote, this lowered the turnout percentage considerably.
"The total number of students allowed to participate in the election went up with the newly implemented abroad student voting," said elections commissioner Stephanie Pace. "Not many participated, however, and this lowered the percentage of students who voted," she said.
Although the abroad student voter turnout was low, Nagle said the inclusion of these students will continue in the future.
"A lot of students abroad don't have access to e-mail easily," said Nagle. "This year the ballot was done by e-mail, but the process may change in
the future to make it easier for the abroad students to vote."
Though there was an overall lack of interest in the election as reflected in the percentage of students who chose to participate, Nagle and Matha remain excited and eager for their term to begin.
"We're already planning informational meetings for the various Board of Governance positions," said Nagle.
"At the meetings students will become better educated about student government and their position. We'll be taking applications and interviewing for our new Board of Governance in April and show students what level we can take student government to."
Nagle and Matha's term will begin on April 1.
All News Stories for Tuesday, February 6, 2001
