Nearly 3,200 students passed through The Colvard Student Union Tuesday to drop their votes in the box for the Student Association senate election.
Almost twice as many students voted this year than last fall, when only 1,700 students voted. The vote count was also higher than the executive officer elections last spring.
Vice elections commissioner Thomas Gregory said: “The election went really well. [The voter turnout] was really high for what we normally see in senate elections. Senate elections usually don’t get the PR that executive officer elections get in the spring because the executive officers are always passing out fliers and really campaigning for themselves, so I think it’s really great.”
The 52 senators will have their first meeting Sept. 23 in the Mitchell Memorial Library auditorium.
Several senators listed parking improvements as a major concern to them.
“The main issue that should be addressed is the parking situation. There are not enough parking areas, and people are constantly getting tickets. I think that is the major issue that needs to be resolved,” Day Student Sen. John Clark Packer said.
Critz Hall Sen. Alexis McCrary also said he felt parking problems are a major issue. “There needs to be some parking improvements made. I have seen a lot of students that do not have decals, and then they get tickets for it. We need to figure out why they are not getting the decals and do something about the problem,” McCrary said.
McCrary also had suggestions to help improve the typically low voter turnout. “There is only one place on campus to vote in the Student Association elections,” McCrary said. If we could maybe set up other polling places, like the Sanderson Center, maybe we would have higher voter turnouts.”
Senators also expressed concern for is the proposed student activities fee that passed in the senate last year, but was rejected this summer by the Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning. Some senators would like to see the bill put forward once again.
College of Arts and Sciences Sen. Lacie Wilkerson and Hamlin Hall Sen. Marla Billups said they hope the activity fee will get a second chance. “We will still try to work on the student activities fee this year since it did not pass this summer,” Billups said.
“It really is important because it would help renovate the Union, bring more concerts to campus, and provide money for campus groups,” Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson also said that in the future she would like to see more groups on campus gain financial support from the Student Association appropriations committee.
“I think it is important for the appropriations committee to help clubs by giving them more money for their activities and conferences,” Wilkerson said.
Hightower Hall Sen. Edward Sanders said he would like to see senators’ individual goals better reflect the needs of the students they specifically represent.
“I would like to see the senators address more constituent issues so that the senate can serve on a more micro level rather than macro,” Sanders said.
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