From midnight to 11:59 p.m. on March 29, Student Body Elections will be open. All students are encouraged to read up on their candidates here, and then vote here.
Technician’s Voters’ Guide
The Technician asked the Student Body President candidates, Student Senate President candidates, University Activities Board President Candidates and the Chief Justice candidate the questions below to give the student body a better understanding of who the candidates are.
1) Why do you think you are most qualified?
2) Briefly describe your main platform.
3) If you could start a tradition at N.C. State, what would it be?
4) What is your favorite class you’ve taken at N.C. State?
Student Body President
Ethan Bartlett, junior, management
1) I feel that I am most qualified because of the experience that I have received. I was Kelly Hook’s Chief of Staff this past year. In that position I was able to see and experience what a student body president does.
2) I feel that communication is key. It is no secret that our University will be facing one of the toughest years it has ever faced; $80 million dollar budget cuts and an entire realignment of our University operating structure. It will be vital that students are aware of what administrative decisions are being made to impact the lives of us students.
3) Engagement. I would love for every student at N.C. State to get involved in some type of organization at our University.
4) My favorite class would be Brian Eder’s Weather and Climate.
Alex Compton, junior, biological sciences
1) I believe I am most qualified because I have been involved with a number of groups/organizations during my time on campus, which has given me insight into student needs. I will continue to stay in touch with students’ issues.
2) I want to bridge the gap between Main and Centennial Campus, create a centralized calendar for campus events, help student groups to publicize better and continue sustainability projects.
3) I would like to see a centralized place of celebration where students can go and hangout after a win to build community.
4) BIO 181 with Dr. Ferzli.
Alex Grindstaff, junior, biological sciences
1) For qualification, I have a general concern about students and the need to accurately represent them. After working with Student Government for almost two years now, on the executive and legislative branch, I have seen what it has done and what it hasn’t done for the students. I believe there can be large improvements in how Student Government operates, and have students more involved so we get proper feedback.
2) My main reason for running, and the thing I stand behind the most is that Student Government needs to have a more effective role in working with the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors. They need to know what students want, but also, we the students need to know what they’re up to. As the largest land grant University, there are over 34,000 people here that each have a voice, and I think it is imperative that they be properly represented. The General Assembly two miles from our Belltower needs to know what students want, and Student Government must be that conductor. Whoever gets elected needs to address this void, and actually be the voice of N.C. State.
3) If I could start a tradition, I think it would be interesting to have something like the Olympic Games, on a much smaller scale of course, between each of the colleges. It would involve both campuses, for a daylong event. We could raise money for the Children’s Hospital or benefit some of the local charities here in Wake County.
4) My favorite class here at N.C. State was D100 with the Dean of the College of Design, Marvin Malecha. Everything he said had emphasis and meaning behind it, and it really opened my eyes as a biological science major, especially after sitting in a room full of design students. Every class was something different, and each lecture was engaging. I encourage any student that wants to open their eyes to take his class.
Maxwell Kangkolo, junior, double major in finance and economics
1) I’m qualified to be student body president because I care about N.C. State University. I have been involved in various groups on campus. I interned in the office of finance and business here at State, which gave me a great opportunity to see how things worked within the University. I’ve held other leadership positions in other clubs and organizations. Experience and involvement make me a qualified candidate for student body president.
2) My platforms are broken down into what I like to call the Pack Priorities. The pack priorities are Making red green, campus wide calendar, more campus wide events, fixing our transit system, and expanding our Wolfpack discount program.
3) The tradition I’d like to start is the Running of the Red day which means every Friday before football games student should be dressed head to toe in nothing but N.C. State gear. This is a great way to promote school spirit and show support to the athletics program.
4) My favorite class I’ve taken so far at N.C. State is business ethics with Dr. Washington, because not only did we learn the curriculum we were also taught real world lessons that could be applied to various facets of life not just academics.
Chandler Thompson, senior, economics
1) I think I am most qualified because of my passion for NC State that will keep me dedicated during my tenure. I have Student Government experience, but also experience across many areas of campus life. I have tangible solutions to improve the student experience and back up my platform ideas.
2) The top five things on my platform include longer tailgating hours, a fourth meal on campus, a central calendar, improved advising, and a sustainability culture change. There is more on my website.
3) This is one of my passions, I have dedicated my first three years to promoting traditions on campus, if I could create just one new tradition it would be a “flash rave” every semester to give students a chance to relieve stress and come together as one Wolfpack and have fun!
4) My favorite class at N.C. State was Intro to Film ENG 282Q. I think Q courses are important to the freshman experience and I really enjoyed this one. We were in small groups, and while my group put together a video I became close friends with all the members.
Leo Verceles-Zara, junior, biochemistry
1) I am qualified for this position because the duty of the Student Body President is to be the voice for the students. I have had a lot of personal experiences with many different students at this University, across different majors and colleges, and I believe that it is time for the opinions of the students to be heard and executed upon by the administration.
2) SWAG: Service, Wolfpack, Awareness, Green/Sustainability (This can be followed up more in-depth at leoforsbp.com).
3) A tradition that I could start at State that I would like to see might be an annual WESAcat (organized by WESA at N.C. State). It was something that just started this year, but it was pretty successful. It’s an informal bike race that’s more or less like a scavenger hunt. With the right promotion across campus, this could be a great event that brings everyone at N.C. State together. If it got big enough, some money might be able to go back to the University.
4) My favorite class that I’ve taken at State has got to be a tie between PSY311 with Dr. Nacoste and MA131 with Dr. Martin.
Student Senate President
From Patrick Devore, senior, meteorology
1) The Senate President needs to be able to unite the Senate so that they may be an effective voice of the students. The Senate President must also be able to work well with the Student Body President in order to promote the effectiveness of Student Government as a whole. They also need to know how to handle serving on the University Tuition Committee and University Fee Committee. As the current Chair of the Senate’s Tuition and Fees Committee, I am already well prepared to take on those roles and be an effective conduit of the will of the students.
2) More open communication between the Senate and the Student Body and more communication between the University Administration/Deans and the Student Body. Better representation of the Student Body and the University Tuition and University Fees Committees.
3) An annual walk down Hillsborough to the General Assembly to let the state government know that we are an involved group in the local community and should be taken seriously.
4) Major – MEA 214 (Fundamentals of Meteorology II) with Dr. Lackmann. Non major – ENG 208 (Intro to Shakespeare) with Dr. Shaw.
Scott Goldsmith, junior, political science
1) Senator for two years, served on Fee Review Community, Served on Appropriations Committee for two years, served on Tuition and Fees Committee, Chair Senate Academics Committee, I have also worked to rebuild the student senate this previous year as we have overcome severe divisions internally amongst different groups that had vastly different ideas regarding how the senate should be run.
2) The job of the Student Senate President isn’t to advance any particular policy perspective. Rather, it is the Senate President who functions as a resource for the other 64 elected senators and guides them as to how they can best accomplish their goals. The Senate President must be an individual that is well respected by their colleagues, fellow senators to ensure they can unite the body and accomplish the will of the student body.
3) While N.C. State has a long history of traditions, I believe the most important tradition for any college to have and/or improve upon is to continuously increase its graduation rates and job placement. If we can consistently have our graduate placed into more prestigious and better paying jobs, especially given the current economic climate, all N.C. State alum and current students would benefit. At the end of the day we are here to become successful, what better way than to ensure when we leave here after our studies that we can pay back our loans. In short, increasing N.C. State alums competitiveness in the workplace would be the tradition I would fight to initiate.
4) Bowling.
Ethan Harrelson, senior, biological sciences
1) I feel I am qualified because I have been in Student Government advocating for students every year I’ve been at N.C. State. I was elected to the senate as a freshman and now am the Student Senate President Pro Tempore more commonly known as the Vice President of the Senate. As VP, I’ve gotten practice at leading the senate, the primary job of the Student Senate President. This year, I was fortunate enough to be the chair of the Appropriations Committee where I heard requests from over 300 groups, so I’ve gotten insight on a lot of issues and learned a lot about what students are doing.
2) My platform focuses on ‘Uniting the Student Body.’ One of the functions of Student Government is helping fund student initiatives on campus. I want to foster uniting students from various parts of campus by giving money to organizations that bring parts of campus together. Instead of thinking of ourselves in terms of colleges, I want being N.C. State Students at the forefront of everyone’s mind. I also want to bring a late night meal option to State and use Moodle to give students more direct access to their student leaders. I also want to make senate meetings more transparent and open to students by having them in a public place. Finally, as the Co-chair of the fees committee for the University, I will keep fees as low as possible and hold departments accountable to the fees they request.
3) I would want to start a new event on campus, like Campout, that brings students together. It would be great to feature student music groups, dance groups, etc.
4) The best class I’ve had at State was COM 466 Nonprofit Leadership and Development with Mindy Sopher. Here I learned about how nonprofits operate and how to start a nonprofit to help promote my further service work goals. I also had the opportunity to work at a nonprofit and get some hands-on experience.
UAB President
Khalia Braswell, junior, computer science
1) I am most qualified to be the UAB President because I have been a part of the UAB for the past three years in addition to holding other leadership positions at N.C. State. Through these positions, I have learned how and when to be a follower, how to manage time, delegate tasks, build a trust between my subordinates, how to work on a team, how to communicate well with others, as well as how to plan ahead.
2) As President of the Union Activities Board, I hope to continue bringing quality programs to the students of NCSU. I also hope to bring awareness of all UAB committees through creative advertising methods. I would also like to reach out for more corporate sponsorships so that we can have even bigger programs.
3) If I could start a tradition at State, it would be a bi-annual exam rave on the Brickyard.
4) My favorite class at N.C. State has been CSC 116 – Introduction to Java.
Matthew Woodward, junior, applied sociology
1) I am the only presidential candidate that has served both as a Union Activities Board chairperson as well as had experience on the UAB executive board. Further, I believe my track record of successful programming within the UAB should be a great indicator that I will continue to meet the needs of our students while expanding UAB’s impact across campus.
2) If elected President, I will enhance the Union Activities Board in three areas. First, I will seek to build and maintain strong partnerships with other organizations. The UAB is an organization with valuable event management experience that can benefit all students if we work together with partners like Student Government to enhance programs, such as Campout, that are traditions at N.C. State. Second, I will be innovative with the UAB budget practices. With an organization that generates over $400,000.00 in revenue, mostly from student fees, I think it is important to have a UAB President that is constantly thinking about the bigger vision and who strives toward increasing the organizational impact while being fiscally responsible. Finally, I believe strong recruitment of the UAB executive and chair positions are essential. Leading the UAB from a good organization to a great organization will require, in part, the President first addressing who makes up our team then how we accomplish our goals. For the UAB to engage students more effectively, I strongly feel that seeking out the diverse range of talented leaders among our student body is key.
3) I think it would be awesome to have an annual flash mob on campus.
4) Introduction to Forensic Anthropology with Dr. Ross.
Student Chief Justice
Ashley Trobaugh, junior, sports management
1) I believe I am most qualified for this position based on my experience on the Student Conduct Board, my passion for our University’s high ideals, and the confidence I have in the standards to which we hold our students through the Code of Student Conduct.
2) As Student Chief Justice, I would like to help educate the student body about the Board’s process and the expectations the University has for its students.
3) If I could start a tradition at State, it would be to pack out the student section at our home baseball games.
4) REL413: The Life and Letters of the Apostle Paul, taught by Dr. William Adler.
Feel free to send letters to the editor about your thoughts on the candidates here.
