This is the second in a two-part series examining individual governors and their platforms in Student Government Association. For part one, please visit thedaonline.com.
Paul Kast
PLATFORM: Student organizations
What do you have planned for the future? Thinking of events for West Virginia University student organization awareness is Kast’s for the rest of the term. He said he is considering planning events to promote student organizations.
What have you been working on? Kast created the Student Organization Awareness Committee and designed a student organization fair. He also started a petition for better tasting food options on the Evansdale Campus, he said.
How do you make yourself available for students? When a student has an issue on student organizations, SGA executives direct them to Kast. He has listened to many students this way, he said.
Are you running for re-election? "I think, personally, if I would decide now, it would affect the rest of my platform for the remainder of my term," he said. "I have worked passionately for student organization awareness, and I don’t want to stop until my term is over."
Contact this governor: pkast@mix.wvu.edu
Ali Mols
PLATFORM: Advising and Greek housing
What do you have planned for the future? Mols said she was interested in starting a peer-mentoring program for younger students. She will research WVU’s peer institutions who have similar programs, she said.
What have you been working on? Kyle Hess and Mols have been doing work on an advising handbook, primarily the "lingo" section, she said. They are responsible for compiling and defining all of WVU’s lingo such as "PRT" and "MIX."
How do you make yourself available for students? Mols said students are free to approach her with anything they have on their minds.
"I’m really open to hearing anything," Mols said. "I would hope students would feel comfortable to come to me at SGA meetings."
Are you running for re-election? Mols said she plans to run for re-election next year.
Contact this governor: amols@mix.wvu.edu
Ryan Quinn
PLATFORM: Textbook prices
What do you have planned for the future? Quinn said he plans to write a piece of legislation requesting a cap on the price of expensive textbooks. Other states have enacted a similar cap, he said. He is also looking into starting a scholarship in memory of students who have died, he said. He is looking at planning a poker tournament as a fundraiser for the scholarship, he said.
What have you been working on? Quinn said he is working to get more professors interested in textbook adoptions to counter textbook prices. Hopefully more professors will get on board to the idea, he said.
How do you make yourself available for students? Quinn reaches out to students by attending various events, he said, He talks to students after SGA meetings, he added.
Are you running for re-election? "No, I’m applying to grad school," he said. "It would be too much to run again and be in the graduate program."
Contact this governor: rquinn2@mix.wvu.edu
Taylor Richmond
PLATFORM: Transportation, the PRT and reform to the visitation policy
What do you have planned for the future? Forming a farmer’s market downtown, increasing organic food options and looking into ways to make the University’s graduates more competitive are topics Richmond plans to research, he said.
What have you been working on? As a freshman, Richmond said he worked on placing the screens in the Mountainlair that feature Mountain Line Transit Authority’s "Where’s My Bus" tab, currently found on its Web site. He also worked on Sustainability Day, asking students to sign a pledge to live a more sustainable life.
How do you make yourself available for students? "I would say student forums because a lot of students come up to me," Richmond said. "I say, if you ask me anything I’ll look into it.
"To be a governor you have to have the personality and the mind set that students are going to have questions," he added.
Are you running for re-election? Richmond announced last month that he plans to run for SGA President in 2010. Currently, he is having conversations to look for candidates and people to fill all open positions.
Contact this governor: trichmo2@mix.wvu.edu
Abby Sobonya
PLATFORM: Student lobbying
What do you have planned for the future? Starting a student lobbying group to ensure student voices in legislative law making is a future goal, Sobonya said. She also wants to draft a medical amnesty policy ensuring underage drinkers would not get into legal trouble if they called the police in an emergency, she said.
What have you been working on? Currently, Sobonya said she is researching various issues on campus, like the need for an Indoor Clean Air Act. Before the University can tackle a campus-wide smoking ban, they need to say it’s illegal to smoke inside, she said. Sobonya will also serve on the Smoking Ban Task Force President James P. Clements is starting for the new year, she said. She said she will make sure all students are represented fairly in policy making.
How do you make yourself available for students? Sobonya said she has connections within different organizations such as College Republicans and the Model United Nations Club. She also said that she likes to ask for opinions of her peers during her classes.
Are you running for re-election? "I’ve told everybody who asks me that I’m not going to decide that until January or February," Sobonya said. "Right now I’m just focused on working on getting my stuff done."
Contact this governor: asobonya@mix.wvu.edu
Cameron Taylor
PLATFORM: Campus safety
What do you have planned for the future? Taylor said he is working with the Morgantown Police Department to start a students emergency response team that would be trained to go into dorms during emergency situations. He is also attempting to have cross reflectors placed around campus where it is difficult to see crosswalks at night.
What have you been working on? Taylor has been working with Ric Hogerheide, a freshman environmental protection major, on the SafeRIDE program. The program would provide a shuttle for intoxicated students to decrease the number of drunken drivers on campus.
"I’ve been in contact with a few other universities with how they run their system," he said. "We are in no rush to jump into it until it is fully finalized."
How do you make yourself available for students? Taylor said he keeps in touch with his constituents by attending Speak Up events, and giving out his e-mail address and cell phone number to students.
Are you running for re-election? "I’m not going to speak on that," he said. "Right now I’m focused on working on my platform."
Contact this governor: ctaylo36@mix.wvu.edu
Jasmine Vaghedi
PLATFORM: Making University fraternities and sororities greener
What do you have planned for the future? Vaghedi said she would like to research issues with student banking and overdraft fees.
What have you been working on? Vaghedi said she is working on getting recycling bins placed in University housing through Allied Waste.
How do you make yourself available for students? Giving out her phone number to anyone that e-mails her is what Vaghedi cites as her strategy to listening to the students.
"I try to give out e-mail as much as possible and give my number to those who respond," she said. "I always say, call me or text me – whatever is easier for you."
Are you running for re-election? "Yes I’m in middle of making such a difference, so I want to continue with this," she said. "I feel like I can make a strong connection with the students with what is working for them."
Contact this governor: jvaghedi@mix.wvu.edu
Molly Wilson
PLATFORM: Service learning
What do you have planned for the future? Getting new students interested in working within the community is Wilson’s goal. She said she hopes to start a freshman service day to get more people active in service learning.
What have you been working on? Wilson said she collected over 100 student organization service chairs over the summer to be compiled in an Center of Civic Engagement database. She also coordinated the Gold Rush and United Way campaigns.
How do you make yourself available for students? "I talk to a lot of student organization chairs either through e-mail or in person, so they know what I’ve been working on," she said. "I’m in the office occasionally, but no one really stops by."
Are you running for re-election? "No I do not plan to run for re-election," she said.
Contact this governor: molly.wilson@mail.wvu.edu
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