Associated Student Government (ASG) continued to transition into next year, as the organization filled three more executive cabinet positions at its Tuesday meeting.
Student senate elected sophomore Alex Barlow as next year's communications director, junior Jen House as secretary for off-campus affairs, and first-year Bethany Bowyer as secretary for academic affairs, as well as appointed 10 new Student Court justices.
The procedure for electing next year's communications director, secretary for off-campus affairs, and secretary for academic affairs were the same as the previous week's, when ASG elected a new treasurer and secretary for diversity affairs - each candidate had approximately two minutes to present his or her platform before fielding questions from all of ASG. After questioning, student senate voted by secret ballot in executive session (without the presence of current cabinet members) to determine the winner.
The race for communications director, whose responsibilities involve publicizing ASG sponsored events and maintaining the ASG Web site, was the most contested election with six candidates running.
A wide variety of issues were brought up in the candidates' opening statements, including getting publicizing ASG events through the Miami Television News Network, providing monthly inserts in the Miami Student, and integrating ASG's Web site with Blackboard.
Barlow, who recently wrote a feature on students' lack of awareness of ASG for MQ before being elected as communications director, is excited with her new role despite having no prior experience with ASG.
"I feel like I can make connections with students," Barlow said. "Students can have a voice through (ASG) to make them aware . . . so they feel like this is their campus."
House, who was secretary for off-campus affairs this past year, ran for the position again because she felt that not all of her goals were completed this year, especially in the advent of Oxford City Council's proposed outdoor drinking game ban.
"I feel like I can do more," House said. She also added that due to the difficulty of initially establishing relationships with members of city council, it is beneficial that the secretary for off-campus affairs have the position for two years.
House specifically plans to better utilize the committee members of Oxford Tenants Organization and other committees she chairs to work more efficiently. After this year and the proposed drinking game ban, she also hopes to improve students' attitudes toward community image and community responsibility.
"I want to make first-year students feel like a part of a community (in Oxford)," she said. "Not just a dorm."
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Another ASG senator, first-year Bethany Bowyer, was elected as next year's secretary for academic affairs. After serving on the academic affairs coalition (AAC), she said she was driven to spend the rest of her college career improving academic advising for students.
"There's no easy answer," Bowyer said. "But I'll be here the next three years to see improvement from year to year."
Bowyer said she plans to create a banquet for outstanding students to couple the annual AAC awards for outstanding professor, as well as expand the number of textbooks on reserve at Miami's libraries.
Senate also approved of 10 new justices who will serve next year (alongside six remaining judges), including a new chief justice, junior Matt Mosconi, and chief justice pro tempore, sophomore Sarah Reynolds. The new justices had to complete an application evaluating the student code of conduct, as well as undergo a group and individual interview before being approved by ASG.
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