A ‘refreshing’ change: For the first time since 2007, two candidates are running for president
Syracuse University students will see something rare when they go to vote for Student Association president this year: two candidates.
Last November, current president Larry Seivert ran unopposed. Two years ago, Marlene Goldberg also ran unopposed until Seivert became a write-in candidate.
In this election, it’s a battle between a known and an unknown. Jon Barnhart, SA Student Engagement Committee chair and longtime SA member, and Hari Iyer, a junior finance, economics and policy studies major who has never served in SA, will compete for the position.
Wayne Horton, president of the 50th session of SA in 2005, was the last non-assembly member to be elected president.
‘I’m really looking forward to a great campaign between the two parties,’ said Alec Sim, previous Board of Elections and Membership chair.
‘It will be quite refreshing,’ he said. ‘Everybody likes a competition.’
Seivert received the highest voter turnout in SA history last November, despite running uncontested. Assembly members are hoping this year’s contested election will bring in an even higher turnout.
‘I’m really urging each and every one of you to get the word out,’ said Bridget Schultz, SA’s public relations director, to assembly members at Monday’s SA meeting.
SA members hope the contested race will cause more students to pay attention to the election. Sim said two different candidates will broaden the number of people and groups interested in the campaign.
From 2006 to 2008, students could not run for SA president without being a member of the assembly for six weeks prior to the election, Seivert said. Marlene Goldberg, a former SA president, later annulled the law.
And with a bill passed this semester, candidates can now spend up to $1,000 of their own money on their campaign. In past years, they could only spend $350. The change was made to reflect inflation over the past four years, Seivert said.
The competition will force Barnhart and Iyer to really develop their campaigns, Seivert said.
‘I think that the element of the competition really challenges each candidate to develop the best platform that they can,’ he said. ‘It makes sure that they deliver something that students are actually looking for, and it makes them hold true to their statements.’
Barnhart’s campaign slogan is ‘Own Your University,’ and he is running on the platform of getting student’s involved in what goes on around campus.
Barnhart has also suggested increasing Department of Public Safety patrols off-campus and near South Campus in light of recent crime.
The university must review how students are involved in SU Showcase and MayFest, Barnhart said. SU must also inform students sooner of any tuition increases, he said.
Iyer hopes to bring about more financial transparency within the university. SU must keep students, parents and alumni better informed of how money is spent, Iyer said.
He said he will talk to faculty and try to work out a way for students can receive classroom or independent study credit for working with SA.
– Asst. Copy Editor Rebecca Kheel contributed reporting to this article.
Published on October 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm
