By David LaPorte
Guest Writer
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock the past few weeks, you know that Carlos Beatty, Jr. and Brian Vogel have won the Student Association (SA) presidential election for 2011-2012. They will take over president Chris Weyer and vice president Derek Nordby’s respective positions beginning April 6. In case you missed the election, it was last Wednesday, March 16, online. They overcame candidate Rika Beck and her vice president, Kim Cameron, in a good race at the polls. The debate on Monday, March 14, before the election proved to be quite interesting. Beatty’s platform was based on Foundation connections, whereas Beck was more focused on school spirit.
The election turned out to be a success, with a 21 percent voter turnout. Also, the SA constitutional amendments passed on their second attempt through the student body. Candidate Beck, the Constitution Committee chair, had some compensation by seeing these essential amendments passed.
After the election results were out, Beatty commented, “My initial reaction was one of happiness; however, I know that there are many challenges that face not only me, but the Senate and the student body as the current semester comes to a close and the upcoming year begins.” If you are unfamiliar with the Student Association, its Senate and executive board are the governing body of the students here at Mines. As president of it, Beatty will not only be in charge of leading the Senate meetings, but will act as the liaison between students and faculty. As vice president, Vogel will maintain the internal structure of the Senate, including heading the chairs meetings with the chairs of the five standing committees (Constitution, Finance, Governmental Relations, Public Relations and Student Affairs). They will both represent our school on the state level by serving on the Student Federation, which has representatives from each of the six South Dakota state colleges.
If you voted last week, know that you took part in the democracy of our school, which can easily be taken for granted. If you forgot to vote, don’t forget to cast your ballot online next Wednesday, March 30, for your five class senators. If you run into Carlos Beatty, Jr. or Brian Vogel, congratulate them on their victory, and don’t hesitate to propose to them or any SA senator ideas and suggestions you have about our school. To find out who your current senators are, go to http://sa.sdsmt.edu/senators.html.
