Student fed alternates fill important roles
Carmen Mesbergen & Maria Schmitt
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: News
Four current Student Federation representatives were not elected to their positions last fall. While they campaigned and ran last year, none of them were selected by the student body to serve on the federation.
These students were alternates - the runners-up who were not elected but still won votes. After one elected federation members decided to spend this semester doing the WHIP program and Greek vs. independent federation seats were shuffled, four positions became open. Sophomore Elliot Gaiser, juniors Jessica Wasson and Kahryn Rombach and senior Drew De Jong filled the open spots.
While some students may have been confused about how these students joined the federation, senior and federation President Brian Painter said the group followed a standard procedure.
"Our bylaws provide that a vacant seat should be filled with the person who had the next highest votes," Painter said. "Luckily, we had enough alternates to fill those spots."
Three or four students remain on the alternates list.
Rombach ran a competitive race for junior class representative, using flyers and posters as her primary exposure.
"It was a great experience and certainly a lot of fun, but I knew election would be a long shot for me," Rombach said.
Three weeks after the election, Rombach discovered her appointment to the federation when an originally elected representative, senior Gwendoline Tuma, decided to participate in WHIP.
Rombach now serves on the Finance, Publications and Campus Improvements Committees, in addition to representing Student Federation to alumni.
Gaiser also experienced a challenging campaign last year before he earned his current federation seat. He modeled one of his campaign images after an Obama poster and staked his platform on ways to improve campus media through greater federation regulation of it.
"I thought Student Federation should take more control of The Collegian particularly, as they pay over $20,000 a year for them to do what they do," he said.
These students were alternates - the runners-up who were not elected but still won votes. After one elected federation members decided to spend this semester doing the WHIP program and Greek vs. independent federation seats were shuffled, four positions became open. Sophomore Elliot Gaiser, juniors Jessica Wasson and Kahryn Rombach and senior Drew De Jong filled the open spots.
While some students may have been confused about how these students joined the federation, senior and federation President Brian Painter said the group followed a standard procedure.
"Our bylaws provide that a vacant seat should be filled with the person who had the next highest votes," Painter said. "Luckily, we had enough alternates to fill those spots."
Three or four students remain on the alternates list.
Rombach ran a competitive race for junior class representative, using flyers and posters as her primary exposure.
"It was a great experience and certainly a lot of fun, but I knew election would be a long shot for me," Rombach said.
Three weeks after the election, Rombach discovered her appointment to the federation when an originally elected representative, senior Gwendoline Tuma, decided to participate in WHIP.
Rombach now serves on the Finance, Publications and Campus Improvements Committees, in addition to representing Student Federation to alumni.
Gaiser also experienced a challenging campaign last year before he earned his current federation seat. He modeled one of his campaign images after an Obama poster and staked his platform on ways to improve campus media through greater federation regulation of it.
"I thought Student Federation should take more control of The Collegian particularly, as they pay over $20,000 a year for them to do what they do," he said.
Be the first to comment on this story