Posted: 04/04/07

Monahan and Wood elected to S.A
On the campaign trail

Alida Destrempe | contributing writer
adestrempe@smcvt.edu

After students return from spring break, neon signs were scattered about campus with names and pictures of candidates campaigning for Student Association (S.A) elections which took place on March 28 and 29.

Alex Monahan was elected President and Mallory Wood was elected Vice President.

Running issues

New S.A vice-president Mallory Wood checks her campaigns facebook profile. (picture courtesy of Mark Gould)

This year's campaigning teams were juniors Michelle Kayser for president and Mallory Wood for vice president and Alex Monahan for president and Colin McSherry for vice president.

One issue that both teams were proponents of was the inception of a bottle redemption center on campus. Both in agreement that there should be a recycling program to help keep the campus clean. Though both agreed on this issue, their approaches to the campaign differed.

“The redemption center on campus would collect cans and money that would go back to the students,” Monahan says. He says he believes that the money should not go to clubs, but would be more of a convenience to students if they received money. McSherry says he believes it will help make St. Michael’s greener.

Wood and Kayser on the other hand want to place Tomra Vending Machines around campus, which act as a recycling vending machine and collect cans.

“I think it could be cost-effective,” Wood says.

She and Kayser wanted to team up with Alliot’s food supplier, Sodexho, and local grocery stores to keep the costs of the machines down.

Wood and Kayser also wanted to team up with Sodexho and change student dining hours. They wanted to work on having Alliot open all hours of the day, says Wood.

“Ideally 24/7, at least during the week,” Wood says. It may be impossible to get staff members to stay she says, so she suggests leaving non-perishable foods out when staff members are not around. Students can still enter Alliot even in late hours of the night. Yet, the Knightcard system this school has may not work with their dining hall plans, so a plan for transforming the Knightcard system is also a big issue for their campaign.

“This is our biggest focus platform,” Wood says.

Both girls say they believe that the school is using an outdated key service. Wood says St. Michael’s was the only school that used a key service out of all the schools she visited when looking at colleges.

“I’m sick and tired of standing in the cold when waiting outside[for someone to let me into a building other than my own],” she says.

One of the top issues Monahan and McSherry pushed was the refurbishment of the Herrouet Theater located on North Campus. They would like to start renovating during the summer. Monahan says it would be a great place for a student lounge, for concerts or comedians, and act as a meeting space for clubs.

“It could accommodate Turtle Underground and other student bands,” McSherry says. He says he believes North Campus is forgotten, and building a lounge up there would enhance the St. Michael’s community by bringing North and Main campuses together.

“The redemption center on campus would collect cans and money that would go back to the students,” Monahan says.

Monahan and McSherry are both actively involved in St. Michael's Crazy Knights club. They both want to work with the club so that more people are willing to show up at sporting events and show school spirit, McSherry says. They plan on having barbeques at games and a concession stand that they say is being planned with Chris Kenney.

“We also are trying to form a Kid’s Crazy Knight Team,” Monahan says.

He says that several local colleges around the area have clubs for kids. The idea of having a club for children will bring more families from the community to support St. Michael’s athletics.

Getting the word out

All candidates have to follow certain S.A rules and regulations when campaigning. Allan Smith, the current Vice President, says that candidates are not allowed to hang any physical endorsement until two weeks prior to elections. Students may not place posters on professors' boards either. All posters and signs must not include libel or slander and must have the S.A.’s approval.

Wood and Kayser placed their flyers not only on bulletin boards, but also on the school’s television network. Since Kayser is abroad this semester, the two made a video prior to her departure so student’s could watch it on YouTube.

Monahan and McSherry took a different approach in campaigning and provided t-shirts that fellow students can wear. Their slogan, "EEE," stands for efficiency, enthusiasm, and excellence.

The two placed yellow and purple yard signs around campus.

Monahan and Wood say that campaigning was tough because both had teammates abroad. Both had extra helping hands and had to do most of the work early when their teammate was still on campus. Both candidates say they think the election was fair because they were in the same boat.

“Thank God we’ve evened it out,” Wood says.

An issue that became problematic with this year’s election was Facebook. Both teams made Facebook groups about their campaigns before the two weeks their flyers could go up.

“Facebook isn’t exactly a flyer,” Monahan says, so both teams did not go against the rules.

“It’s nice to have support,” Wood says. She explains that Facebook was comforting for her to see how many people were in her group, but the Monahan and McSherry group usually had the same number as theirs did. Both groups say it was useful to send out messages during elections times and allows them to get their names out, but many students join both groups.

Alex Monahan's campaign facebook profile. (image created by Mark Gould)

“It has gotten the word out there, but I don’t look at it [Facebook] as much as that,” Wood says.

New beginning

“We are looking for a pair of students that have enough dynamic between the two of them so that they can confront each other to resolve issue,” Smith says. He says he felt satisfied with all the candidates who were running. They are all friends and he believes they all came with great, new ideas.

There are current issues that will be passed on to winning candidates such as general student issues, security issues, and the revamping of the Student Association’s Web site, Smith says.