Three students wishing to escape the traditional senate-led tickets and agenda-driven platforms of the Prepared to Engage, Act and Respond and SOUND parties are running as independent candidates in this year's Student Senate election.
Kristen Altenburger, Lindsay Hamilton and Joel Newby are running for senator positions for East Green, Health and Human Services and Off-Campus Life, respectively. None has experience on senate - or extensive funding for a campaign - but each said he or she want to run independently of established party platforms.
I don't like parties when you're trying to get elected because somebody else may come up with your party's platform and then you run on that platform
said Newby, who is a junior studying political science. I came up with my own platform and I'm the one who's standing behind it. I have no scapegoat.
The major focus of Newby's campaign, he said, is communication between students and Ohio University administrators, permanent residents and city officials, which is also a tenet of both the P.E.A.R. and SOUND parties' platforms. Newby said next year senate should send out a weekly e-mail about what was covered at meetings and what is going on in Athens and at OU.
Hamilton, a junior studying exercise physiology and current president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, decided against developing a platform altogether because she said she wants to focus completely on constituent input.
I don't really have any specific goals; I'm more open to what my constituency needs said Hamilton, who has also served on the General Fee Advisory Committee. I would want to be more of a senator for every student and listen to their concerns and help to bring those concerns to senate and combat any problems they have.
Improving communication is a common goal among all three of the independent candidates, as well as the P.E.A.R. and SOUND platforms.
Altenburger, a sophomore studying mathematics in the Honors Tutorial College, said she wants to improve communication among students on East Green and agrees with the goals of both the P.E.A.R. and the SOUND parties.
I'm kind of a blend of both of their views
Altenburger said. We need a sense of community and unity among the university. I'd like to do a newsletter once a month just to keep students informed as to what's going on.
Most students who have run as independent candidates in the past have been unsuccessful because they usually run for positions that many people vote for, such as at-large senators or one of the executive positions, said •current-Student Senate •President Robert Leary.
A lack of senate experience and campaign resources might also leave independent candidates in the dust.
Both the P.E.A.R. and SOUND parties have been campaigning across campus since April 20 - hanging banners, passing out flyers and holding debates and campaign events.
Each independent candidate, however, said they have not campaigned much so far, and will depend on the last few days before the May 20 election for a final push in garnering student votes.
From the start of campaigning
(independent candidates) are the little man
Newby said. I've been trying to play catch-up for a while now.
1
News
Pamela Engel
31774a.jpg
