Each year as student body elections come around, students get to meet a new group of people who want to take leadership positions in Student Government.Some candidates are actually new — they decided to run to give back or affect change — but some aren’t. They’ve been around for awhile, in and out of Student Government, getting to know the lay of the land and making friends in high places. According to Kelli Rogers, a junior in political science and student senate  president pro tempore, having years of involvement in SG can give some candidates a bit of an advantage.Rogers, who is running for student senate president unopposed, said she had her sights set on that position since she entered student government as a freshman. According to her, many SG leaders start off that way.”When people come in freshman year…you can always tell the great leaders, so I guess naturally they just progress up the ladder,” Rogers said. “Sometimes people guess who will be running for those positions years in advance.”As usual, student body president is hotly contested with six candidates. But even then, some have that Student Government experience, and perhaps the support that comes with it. Rogers, Student Body President Jay Dawkins and Adam Compton, who ran for student body president in 2007 and held other SG positions, all said being involved in SG or having experienced friends in SG makes campaigning for positions easier. “[Campaigning is] challenging without firsthand knowledge,” Dawkins said. “There are things in life where your success depends on the people around you.”Compton put it more bluntly.”It’s incredibly hard for an outsider to run and have a chance,” he said. It’s not just who candidates know, though. The senate is a breeding ground of new SG talent. Senators have a few paths to take — one of those is taking an appointed chair position. The senate president makes those appointments, and, according to Kelli Rogers, a female has not held the position in about 10 years. “It has turned into a ‘good ole boys’ club,” she said, adding that males tend to appoint males, which has led to a lack of fresh blood in SG for awhile.In addition to intra-SG support, candidates who haven’t spent time in student government are often behind on the issues, according to Rogers and Compton.”[Being in SG is] beneficial because you know the issues, you’re constantly trying to reach out to students while you’re in student government,” she said. “So when it’s time for the election you’re familiar with them.”Compton agreed.”Someone from outside of SG is going to have a hard time understanding the issues,” he said.Compton said non-SG people are also at a disadvantage because of the election rules, more formally called “Chapter 7.””Chapter seven is hard to read,” he said, explaining that most people can’t wade through the legal jargon. Rogers said she would like to reduce some of the hurdles so more people would have and easier road to SG positions.”The application process for becoming a chair is improving,” she said, “like making it so they have to show why they want the position.”But Rogers also said that making too many changes to SG isn’t feasible. A bill to change the way senate chairs were chosen “failed miserably” in 2006.For now, the system is set. However, Dawkins said he thinks new people will find their was into student government.”Hopefully we’ll see a lot of fresh faces,” he said.