What the student government candidates want to do

Leah Pietraszewski – candidate for student vice president for business affairs:

make student expenditures transparent through posting student fees on billboards and e-mails

Rich Higginbotham – candidate for student vice president for student affairs:

emphasize community service with activities such as Panther Service Days

Alison Kostelich – candidate for student vice president for academic affairs:

make Eastern more of a student-teacher friendly place; make a cultural awareness class a requirement for graduation

Levi Bulgar – candidate for student executive vice president:

increase voter registration rate on campus and bring more political debates to Eastern

Cole Rogers – candidate for student body president:

improve the campus environment; make Eastern a campus that would be memorable for alumni and get more students involved with campus issues

Current Student Senate member Leah Pietraszewski and candidate for vice president for business affairs shared her idea of posting bulletin boards containing student fee information that would be visible in residence halls and the union.

She also plans to make student expenditures more transparent.

“I’d also like to start a semesterly e-mail that would be sent out to tell you where your money is being spent,” Pietraszewski said.

Just as Corryn Moorman, the marketing and advertising chair for Panther Service Day, was at the meeting advertising for help with Panther Service Day next Saturday, so was Student United Party member Rich Higginbotham – just in a different way.

Higginbotham stressed that students get more involved as a whole with the community- oriented day. He pointed out that while there are currently seven organizations that sponsor the day, there are more than 150 organizations on campus. He also expects between 600 and 700 people to attend the day versus the 200 to 300 that do now.

“I liked the fact that he’s really trying to push it next year,” Moorman said. “This year we didn’t really do it so much because people weren’t really aware that we were doing anything. So I like how he’s pushing it more.”

Cole Rogers, candidate for student body president, was the last to speak from the party and mainly focused on improving the campus environment by adding events such as a bon fire in the South Quad to give students memories after they leave campus.

He also plans to make Eastern a more student-represented university.

Jarrod Scherle, current secretary of RHA and future president-elect, said he liked Rogers’ ideas about keeping Eastern’s traditions and adding some new ones as well.

“I think we made great strides this year with the Blue Crew and sports and things like that,” Rogers said. “I think it starts out great here, you know. Everyone goes to the football games and then nobody really goes to the basketball games, and so it’s kind of, like, dead.”

Student government elections will be held Monday and Tuesday.