Editor’s note: Ticket series will be printed in alphabetical order based on the presidential candidates’ last names.
Check out lsureveille’s SG presidentail election page for more coverage
Candidates of the “Defining Our Future” ticket for Student Government president and vice president say they want to approach SG with the idea that “to lead is to serve.”
SG presidential candidate David Jones, an SG senator, and vice presidential candidate Kacey Brister, assistant director of First Year Experience, said the University needs to “define its future” as the “pinnacle of public education in the state.”
Jones and Brister said they are committed to ensuring the University retains its flagship status years from now.
Though Brister is a sophomore, she said her job “overseeing a group of 50 freshmen” this year has prepared her, and she said she is paired well with Jones, who has served in the Senate for three years.
Jones and Brister said “safety is most important” in their administration. Jones said he has spoken to Councilwoman Tara Wicker, district 10, about increasing the safety of both campus and the surrounding Baton Rouge community.
Jones said an acquaintance has been approached by a dangerous man on campus, and Brister said she frequently runs the LSU Lakes, inciting them to push for establishing call boxes, such as blue-light phones, on campus.
Jones said LSU Police Department officers told him they are understaffed — Jones wants to ensure LSUPD is fully staffed.
“We have close to 30,000 students,” Jones said. “It could be a serious and dangerous problem.”
  Video: David Jones & Kacey Brister Interview
 
Jones said he and Brister and SG Senate’s Committee on External Affairs will together advocate safety.
As a senator, Jones voted in favor of both the resolution to form the black caucus and the resolution to add “gender identity and expression” to the nondiscrimination clause of the equal opportunity policy. Brister said she supports both resolutions.
“If this is going to help us better to define LSU, better to help the students, why not?” Jones said.
Jones said senators can represent students by voting based on constituent input, regardless of personal opinion. He said current SG President J Hudson has gone against his personal convictions amid the budget cut crisis.
“I will never make a decision on the floor of the Senate without talking to constituents,” Jones said.
Jones and Brister said they also want to “garner better relationships” between the Senate and the executive branch.
Jones said he is an advocate of the Flagship Coalition plan because it is the only complete plan regarding budget cuts.
He said he and Brister hope to “do more with less.”
“Our stance will reflect what is best for the University, but it will still be driven by student opinion,” Jones said.
Jones and Brister said they want to continue defining the foundation Hudson and SG Vice President Dani Borel built to fight budget cuts, and they want to create a three-year plan for the University’s future.
Brister called University tuition “a deal” and said if raising tuition is necessary to retain the University’s flagship status, she would be in support of it. Brister also said she is in favor of raising TOPS standards.
Jones said he has always had to work a job to afford school and “what he wants to do,” but if the University “needs” to raise tuition, he would support it. Both Jones and Brister said they have quit their jobs to campaign for SG elections.
“This campaign is not about us,” Brister said. “This campaign is about LSU as a whole.”
 
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Contact Andrea Gallo at [email protected]