Continuity seems to be the theme in this year's contest for Graduate Student Senate president.
Candidates Peter Wickman and Kaustubh Nande both said they want to continue the work current president Dominic Barbato began two years ago. Barbato has pushed to lower graduate health care costs by almost $100 per year, improve pedestrian safety in Athens and work graduate student priorities into OU's five-year strategic plan.
This year the GSS has done an excellent job providing a voice for grad students
and I would like to carry that on said Wickman. I have found that (the senate) works better when run with continuity.
I would like to continue on with what (current president Dominic Barbato) has built up Nande said, echoing the sentiment.
Nande, who is running as an independent, has no formal experience in the senate, but said he has spoken informally with Barbato and other members of the Senate.
If elected, Nande said his three main goals would be improving health insurance and related subsidiary budgets, increasing research grants and research funding, and increasing graduate students' overall stake in university decisions.
Adding a paid, part-time assistant to the president of the senate is another plank in Nande's platform. He proposed several ways to finance the position, including creating a Program to Aid Career Exploration position funded by OU and seeking sponsorship from the student's college.
Wickman, currently the senate's history senator, said that he would like to provide a variety of health-care options, which currently (are not) designed to meet graduate students' goals.
Wickman said he would also like to address the general fee that graduate students must pay. Ohio University's graduate students currently pay the highest general fee in the state, and he would work to increase the general fee waiver that was given to the graduate students this year, Nande said.
Graduate students will vote for next year's president May 15.
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Kelly Masterson
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