Three senators are campaigning for the two open senate seats in the Walter Cronkite School next week, making them the only contested positions in the senate race.
The candidates are freshmen Cailyn Bradley and Alan Hersh and sophomore Michelle Lauer. Bradley and Hersh are running a campaign together and have similar plans for their main goals if elected.
Bradley is a transfer student and said that while she had not previously been active in ASASUD, she had interacted with the senate several times when requesting funding for other organizations she is in.
“I got to see the student perspective of student government and I wasn’t thrilled with the way it’s working,” she said. “I can see what needs to be changed to better student life.”
Bradley said she wants students to feel comfortable to approach her, not intimidated the way she felt when she had funding requests.
“When I had to submit requests, I felt like it wasn’t me explaining why the money was needed, it was like they were deciding whether they wanted to fund it,” Bradley said. “We’re students too, it shouldn’t be political like that. We’re too young for that.”
Hersh said he is running because he was unhappy with the way student government is run.
“My last experience with them was not what you would call a good one,” he said. “I’ve never done student government before, but I’m going to give it my best shot. My platform is ‘students first’ definitely.”
Both Bradley and Hersh stressed making student government more inviting to students.
“It’s important to let people know how to get involved, and that’s really my main goal,” Hersh said.
Lauer, however, said she will be focusing on different things if elected. Lauer said she has previous experience in student government; in high school she was senior class president and she held leadership positions in her sorority at George Washington University.
“Since I just transferred this semester I didn’t get a chance to get involved, but my number one priority is to bring more philanthropic events to the Downtown campus,’ Lauer said.
Lauer said in the semester she has been at ASU, she noticed there have not been many events put on by student government that were advertised sufficiently in her opinion.
“There are so many opportunities downtown and lots of people we can help here. If we have events and activities down here, people are much more likely to come to things if they don’t need to travel,” she said. “It will make us more of a community as well as give us a chance to interact and become more part of the Phoenix community.”
Lauer said she also plans to open up communications between student government and smaller campus organizations.
“As a Cronkite senator, I want to reach out to these clubs and make a broader, more thoroughly linked community, and promote what we’re doing a lot more,” she said.
Lauer said she also hopes to extend library hours and reduce textbook costs.
Cronkite students will be able to vote in the elections on April 6 and 7.
Contact the reporter at sheydt@asu.edu
