News

ASM announces spring ‘08 election candidates

The University of Wisconsin Associated Students of Madison announced Wednesday the names of the candidates running in the 2008 student elections.

ASM is holding student elections to fill 24 seats on Student Council and three seats on the Student Services Finance Committee. ASM also proposed to eliminate the financial chair position of SSFC, which would reduce the committee to 15 members.

There are six candidates running for SSFC, the committee that allocates $19 million in segregated fees to student organizations every year. There are 29 students running for 12 seats available on Student Council as a representative of the College of Letters and Sciences.

UW sophomore Hilary Minor is the current School of Education representative and is running for re-election in the 2008 election. There are two seats available in this school, and Minor’s competition is Paris Echoles and Kara Marnell.

“I am really looking forward to continuing to work on bridging Student Council and the student body and making sure that we are truly representing the students,” Minor said. “Each one of us should know that when we come to the table at Student Council, we do not just represent ourselves; we represent our schools and colleges, and furthermore the entire student body.”

The School of Business has one seat, with four students running. The School of Human Ecology has two available seats. The School of Engineering has two seats available and there are three candidates vying for the positions.

The only student running to represent graduate students is Latola Ewers.

There are no candidates running to represent the Law School, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the School of Medicine and Public Health and Special Students.

“Now is an especially important time to have the student voice heard because not only are we in the process of getting a new chancellor, but the UW is facing scary realities,” Minor said. “Tuition is rising, we are losing academic standing and excellent faculty and TAs because we cannot afford to pay them competitively.”

According to Student Elections Committee Chair Trenell Darby, the SEC will release the results of the election within three school days of the last day of the election. Final results will be released after SJ has reached a decision on any complaints filed.

Complaints can be filed by any person or organization affiliated with ASM election and must be filed within five days of the release of the preliminary election results.

Darby said all UW students are eligible to vote for the representatives for his of her school or college and candidates running for SSFC.

Voting will begin April 1 at 8 a.m. and will end April 3 at 8 p.m. Students can vote online at asm.wisc.edu.