In one day, students will be voting from the list of 16 candidates to choose nine senators in the Undergraduate Student Senate elections.

Nine of their peers will determine what is best for Kent State undergraduates.

Nine of their peers represent the undergraduate student voice to members of the government, community and administration, such as President Lester Lefton.

Nine of their peers will control and determine where to send a large portion of the money collected by student activity fees paid for by each student at Kent State.

You get the point — the jobs are important.

To help the undergraduate student body out, here’s how the Daily Kent Stater editorial board will vote based on its opinions of each of the potential senators. These endorsements resulted from following the candidates and their platforms, individual interviews the DKS editorial board conducted with the candidates and questions from last night’s debate-style election forum.

Go to Web for Students March 14 to elect who you think will best represent the undergraduate student body.

Happy voting!

USS 2007-2008 VOTING BALLOT

Executive Director

Preston Mitchum

Academic Affairs

DKS abstention

Business and Finance

Andrew Ljubi

Community Affairs

Jonathan Bey

Governmental Affairs

John Wetmore

Research and Development

Michael Hammond

Student Advancement

Theodore Trimm

Student Relations

Elizabeth Eckels

University Affairs

Jonithon LaCross

Executive Director

Katie Hale

• Make Student Center more accessible
• Create weekend shuttle bus
• Expand and strengthen tailgating
• Provide Web design services to student organizations
• Bring pickaprof.com to Kent State
• Serve as a student voice on a Main Street Kent project committee
• Use USS suggestion boxes

Preston Mitchum

• Manage senators and staff effectively
• Increase communication between students and organizations
• Continue the growth of programs
• Incorporate more of Kent into Back to School BlastOff!
• Incorporate All Campus Programming Board more
• Increase operating hours of Student Center
• Assist Student Legal Services, especially with changes for new public nuisance laws

In our opinion:

Kent State University undergraduates are lucky.

Both candidates for the USS Executive Director position could lead the university in a positive direction. Both candidates have experience and credentials. Both have interesting platform goals. We really feel like the university has two of the best candidates running for this position.

We really did think this decision would be an easy one when we first heard the candidates for Executive Director, simply because Katie Hale had never been a senator for USS, making her too inexperienced to lead the whole senate. Preston Mitchum has served as a senator for two years. He is fully aware of the different aspects of being a senator. We wouldn’t make someone editor of the Daily Kent Stater if he or she had never been an editor of some sort.

But if you’ve ever talked to Hale about USS, you’d realize it’s hard to deny her charisma, passion and knowledge of the organization because of her work as senate’s administrative assistant. She really does want to make a change, and she seems like the type of person who won’t stop until the students are happy.

Hale’s platforms, if accomplished, will help student retention, provide more social and educational opportunities for students and get students more involved.

Mitchum’s goals, however, are more realistic and better outlined. We can tell how much the experience of actually being a senator will help in means of getting contacts and knowing what can and can not get done in a matter of a year. It really boils down to whether or not we want a dreamer who has good ideas but might leave us disappointed, or someone who is most likely to accomplish all of his platform goals even though they aren’t as far reaching. We choose the latter.

Business and Finance

Andrew Ljubi

• Compose the best Allocation Committee selection possible
• Set up a book scholarship for committee members
• Keep the committee informed with post-program analysis and financial reports every week
• Increase awareness of the committee and funding through mailers to student organization leaders

In our opinion:

Although Andrew Ljubi won’t be doing anything groundbreaking if voted as Senator of Business and Finance, he will be a strong leader of the Allocations Committee and its work.

In order to compose the best committee possible, he intends to make sure all organizations permitted by the bylaws to sit in on interviews and discussion on potential allocations members are in attendance.

We also encourage the book scholarship. Ljubi has a realistic view of how busy students are, and he knows that the best potential members will apply if they have some sort of compensation.

Governmental Affairs

Annah Trunick

• Stop the newly enforced policy that sends letters home to parents after students get caught with alcohol or drugs on campus
• Ban trans fat from campus
• Work with fixing virus attacks on students’ computers
• Encourage and help increase student voter registration and voting

John Wetmore

• Attend meetings of political and other organizations on campus
• Increase voter turnout, with a special emphasis on transportation
• Hold political forums to let students discuss legislation and changes within the state
• Lobby for tax-free textbooks and an increase in Pell Grant funding
• Create a university-sponsored music file sharing system

In our opinion:

Wetmore’s platform goals align more with what the position entails. He also seems to encompass more of the student body by working with legislation that affects all students, such as lobbying for tax-free textbooks. He has well-developed plans for getting Kent State off the worst offenders list for file sharing.

We appreciate that Trunick is only a freshman and may be more motivated to follow through with her goals because she will still be in school when they come to fruition. Her platform points are just too vague and some seem unreachable or unimportant.

Community Affairs

Jonathan Bey

• Work with Community Task Force and make it a recognized student organization
• Encourage student participation in this fall’s Kent City Council elections
• Create a pamphlet for student renters and grade renting agencies

In our opinion:

Our general reaction is that while he may lack confidence, Johnathan Bey is capable of being Senator for Community Affairs. A big obstacle facing the Kent community is reviving downtown. The Community Task Force would be a part of the city’s discussions and speak for what students want downtown.

By making the task force a recognized student organization, more students will be encouraged to get involved. Student involvement means the more input for Kent residents who may be out of touch with what students are looking for.

Student Advancement

Megan Lynn

• Expand the university’s knowledge and usage of Mobile Campus
• Continue to use Student Input Advisory

  Committee

• Raise student awareness of future and current construction and campus facilities
• Re-instate Student Leadership Development Board
• Attend as many student organization meetings as possible

Theodore Trimm

• Continue efforts to revamp Student Multicultural Center
• Make Student Center more student friendly
• Make USS more of an advocate for the student body by setting up hotlines and e-mail addresses for concerns and questions

In our opinion:

Theodore Trimm’s plans to revamp and reinvigorate the Student Multicultural Center and to provide basic equipment that student groups get for their programs are what leads us to vote for him.

He said he hates committees — not good if there are three he will be working for. He said he would like to find better ways to accomplish the goals of those committees by including more opinions than just those members. While it’s good he wants to make the committees more inclusive, it might be too many cooks in the kitchen.

Megan Lynn is well-qualified, but we feel her platform goals are too basic. They have yet to be developed, and we don’t have enough background as to how she would initiate these changes. Students aren’t going to go to a two-hour forum about how construction is going. Her plans just aren’t new.

Student Relations

Elizabeth Eckels

• Make President’s Roundtables online
• Continue Coffee with the President programs and start Lunch with Lefton program
• Work to bring Community Task Force to orientation classes
• Showcase student/adviser relationships
• Improve communication between administration and students

April Samuelson

• Improve two-way communication between the university and the undergraduate student
• Hold “Talk with your Dean” events
• Create a committee of students who are blind, hearing impaired and wheelchair bound to improve accessibility on campus
• Hold President’s Roundtables once a month
• Hold an indoor event during spring semester

In our opinion:

Elizabeth Eckels has a strong air of professionalism, and you can tell she’s a math major because the majority of her platforms are designed to make current programs more efficient — and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

But April Samuelson’s innovative and new ideas can’t be denied.

She has already made a difference for students who are blind by taking action to make sure Braille tabs are correct throughout campus. And she did this just while campaigning.

Eckels’ plans, however, seem more tangible, not to mention they’re good ideas. Putting the President’s Roundtables discussions online will make it easier to determine what student groups want to achieve and will encourage more student organizations, regardless of their size, to participate in these discussions. We endorse Eckels for this position. (Bryan Wroten of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board did not make a vote for this position because of a conflict of interest. He was April Samuelson’s editor when she was a reporter for the Daily Kent Stater last fall for a required class.)

University Affairs

Nikole Keslar

• Work with freshmen orientation classes to make newcomers more aware of student organizations
• Make universal Web site with information for undergraduates
• Reduce incidents of music downloading on campus

Jonithon LaCross

• Make the All University Hearing Board an option, not an alternative
• Work closely with Judicial Advocates Program
• Market the application process for all standing committee positions, University Hearing Board and Judicial Advocates
• Work with orientation programs to create better awareness of student groups
• Post comprehensive reports on USS Web sites
• Resurrect the Advising Committee for University Affairs

In our opinion:

Both Nikole Keslar and Jonithon LaCross want to improve orientation to help raise student retention rates. Keslar hopes to accomplish that by making a universal Web site with information that may be difficult for students to find. LaCross’s plan is to actually go to classes and create a seminar class that tells students face to face about certain programs.

The idea for a Web site with this information about student groups on campus and USS is a decent one, but LaCross’ plan to take action and work with the students puts him above Keslar.

Keslar’s plans for improving the Judicial Advocates program simply include making more information available to students. LaCross takes it a step further, by planning to personally train those involved in the advocate system and holding weekly meetings to maintain stability and experience. LaCross has a stronger idea of what he wants to do with specific university committees, and thus, receives our vote.

Academic Affairs

Kali Price

• Change KAPS report to make it easier to read and more understandable
• Work with Faculty Senate to educate students about the new Freshman Forgiveness policy
• Make plus/minus system more universal
• Keep the Library open later, at least during midterms
• Continue to work with academic complaints

Alicia Weaver

• Work with Freshman Advisory Council to help increase Kent State retention
• Extend Library hours and make it more interactive
• Host academic programs and forums, create reward incentives for academic achievements
• Inform students about KAPS
• Work with KASADA to bridge the gap between students and advisers

In our opinion:

Price has lots of good ideas and is knowledgeable about USS and how it works, but the feasibility behind her platforms is sometimes questionable. Making the plus/minus system more universal relies on Faculty Senate leadership, and actually changing KAPS is beyond the scope of a senator alone. Her ideas are progressive and important, but would require extensive cooperation from faculty and administrators.

Weaver sets more tangible, albeit safe, goals. Her main goals focus on educating students about issues, such as KAPS, but she doesn’t offer a defined plan of action. Her goals wouldn’t move the university forward, but they won’t necessarily harm the student body either.

Both candidates talked a lot about trying to increase retention by targeting freshmen, but neither had a clear idea of how to do this.

(The editorial board is abstaining from making an endorsement for this position due to a conflict of interest. Kali Price was the assistant Forum editor until campaigning for USS began.)

Research and Development

Michael Hammond

• Research and develop a way for CSI and ACPB to have better concerts
• Work with Dining Services and survey students to find strengths and weaknesses
• Use the StaterOnline poll to find where to better allocate money
• Establish a street team to put a face on USS
• Help research changes students want for the Student Center

Bethany Taylor

• Develop College Level Examination Program (CLEP) information packets for students
• Create professor profiles
• Research and create list of local internships
• Research and write proposal to build potential parking garage
• Research ways to keep parts of the Library open 24 hours a day

In our opinion:

Bethany Taylor was unable to make it to the USS/Stater interviews and also did not attend the USS forum last night — if that doesn’t make you nervous, it should.

Research and development is an incredibly important position because the research this senator conducts can direct USS funds. Her platforms are unrealistic.

Mike Hammond, however, was one of the most enthusiastic candidates. He also has important experience working with student organizations such as ACPB. We think it’s an important point that he has worked as concert chair for ACPB because he had to do research to see what bands and groups the students wanted to see. He has acknowledged that most students don’t know what USS does, and his street team is his plan to remedy that problem.