2008 Woodie Awards
Access party prevails in SGA elections
Mindy Townsend
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Front Page
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| Jeremy Johnson and Larry Fleury are new president and vice president of the Student Government Association. The team of Johnson and Fleury defeated APPLE Party candidates Jimmy Nelson and Stephanie Sebring 440 votes to 197. Tom Bryant, university president, announced the results Friday afternoon. After the announcement, Johnson said the Access Party also won all but one of the at-large Senate seats. Everyone who ran for the four colleges won seats in the Senate, and the amendments to the SGA constitution were passed as well. Nelson did not wish to comment on the election results, but Sebring says she is happy for the Access Party and wants to stay involved in student government next year. "We had a good time. It was a good fight," she said. "It's going to be a fun year next year." For Johnson and Fleury, just knowing the result of the election was a relief. Johnson says the campaign was overwhelmingly stressful and he was just glad it was over. "I'm excited, but just relieved that we don't have to campaign anymore," he said. Not only did the Access Party ticket dominate, but Johnson is also making history. Johnson is the son of Mark Johnson, professor of technology management. The elder Johnson is the faculty representative in SGA and is also a voting member. But he was also SGA president during the 1982-'83 school year. This is the first time a father and son have both held that post. He says he told Jeremy to focus on students. "As a student leader, you serve the students," said Mark Johnson. "You should be looking for new ways to serve them." But he admits that his current position in SGA might cause some problems, either at home or in the Senate. Mark Johnson says he has served as the faculty representative for several years, but the person in that position is chosen every year. He says he might consider stepping down for the year Jeremy is president. "That may be something I should consider, having someone step in," he said. Everyone who ran for the four colleges won seats in the Senate. In addition, the proposed amendments to the SGA constitution were passed. Mark Johnson says 10 percent of the student body had voted by Wednesday of election week, reaching the magic number for passing constitutional amendments. Among the changes are the addition of a full-time staff position, which will make the office manager position obsolete. The staff position will handle the day-to-day work that keeps SGA functioning. The new position will also manage finances, aside from allocations, which will remain the domain of the treasurer. Because the office manager position was eliminated, the treasurer will take minutes at SGA meetings. There was also an amendment that would raise the minimum GPA of senators to 2.25 from a 2.0. This will take effect in the fall of 2007, so the senators elected this year are not affected. There are also changes to the salaries of the vice president, the cabinet and the directors. The vice president's compensated hours were lowered from 20 to 15, the treasurer will be paid for eight instead of 15 hours and every director but the legislative affairs director will be paid a $500 stipend per semester. President/Vice President Access Party......440 APPLE Party.......197 College of Arts and Sciences Jon Eastman.......161 Timi Myers........184 Aisha Sandage.....129 Erin Floyd........137 Jessica Calvin....135 College of Business Mallory Porter.....76 College of Education Kristina Bortmes...59 Korri Tener........46 Senator at Large Elizabeth Perrey..315 Josh Johnson......300 Eddie Penner......296 Analia Saldivar...271 Brett Shamblin....247 Andera Cole.......246 Cecilia Crosa.....242 Luke Henke........239 Maria Ferreria....240 Sam Heady.........236 |
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