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OUDAILY
For 100 years, the student voice of the University of Oklahoma
LOOKING AHEAD TO TEXAS TECH • 7
SAM NOBLE
RYAN ECHOLS
J.D. BAKER
MATTHEW MARKS
COREY ABERNATHY
MEET THE CANDIDATES Five students to appear on ballot for SGA president K AYLA BRANCH • @K AYLA _BRANCH
Five OU students will run for Student Government Association president this year following the term of current president Daniel Pae. Each candidate recently spoke with The Daily about a multitude of topics, including their platforms and why students should vote for them. Sam Noble
Ryan Echols
J.D. Baker
Matthew Marks
Corey Abernathy
Computer science junior Sam Noble will focus on practical changes on campus to make OU a more sustainable and accessible university.
Drama and economics senior Ryan Echols wants to use his experience and detailed plans to bring change to campus and give students a bigger voice.
Broadcast journalism junior Matthew Marks will center his campaign on bringing OU students and the Norman community together.
Political science junior Corey Abernathy will focus on making SGA and different resources more accessible to students.
The Daily: What are the main points of your campaign? Noble: “The first is the focus on victims of sexual assault. We want to partner with an outside agency that has expertise in contributing for support for victims and also providing an office with student staff that can help these victims as well. Secondly, we want to improve the efficiency of our large facilities on campus, specifically the dorms, cafeteria, large class halls, the library and the union, so we can save energy and save money. We intend to establish an office whose primary job will be to assist average students in finding scholarships that are available and attainable to them. We’ve also heard a lot of negative things about diversity training, so we hope to replace diversity training with a program that puts demographically diverse groups of freshmen together that go out and fulfill service projects. We believe the best way to overcome biases towards people of other backgrounds is to build relationships with people of different backgrounds. Lastly, we hope to expand (the Student Organization Resource Office) so it can help more student organizations and to work with different students and professors to come up with a plan to fix the flooding on the South Oval.” The Daily: Why should students vote for you? Noble: “There are two reasons: the first is that I would make an enormous effort to extend myself to the students where they are. There is a big problem with communication between administration and students, and I want to continue efforts to combat this. Secondly, I have humility. I know some things, but I don’t know everything, and I am willing to ask for help to achieve all the things that students want to happen on campus and the things that I have promised in my campaign.”
The Daily: What are the main points of your campaign? Echols: “Our points are empowerment, sustainability, community, mental health, sexual assault and worker enrollment. We plan on creating a student regent position where a student would serve as a voting member of the regents board. Next, we want to copy (University of North Texas’) style of wind turbine use. They received a national grant and installed wind turbines that are effective and power some of their campus, cutting costs and helping the environment. We want to bring people together to have meaningful conversations and have the executive branch be more involved in the philanthropic side of campus. With that, we want to create a position in the cabinet with the intent of investigating and addressing mental heath issues on campus. With sexual assault, we want to create an environment on campus that makes people feel comfortable reporting, so we can completely address the problem. We will do this by throwing our resources behind this cause and helping students know the resources they have available to them, and combating rape culture. Lastly, we know college is expensive, and we want to implement a type of early enrollment, so that if students are working a certain job schedule because they have to work, their school schedule will be more flexible.” The Daily: Why should students vote for you? Echols: “I would be the best SGA president because I have the experience in SGA. I know what resources are available to us and what the job entails. I won’t go around just saying things — it’s about getting down to business and making real change. I am the only candidate that has the experience and qualifications necessary to make that happen.”
Public relations junior J.D. Baker will be running in the election with hopes of bridging gaps between different groups on campus by pushing inclusivity and community.
Running mate: Josh Steward
Running mate: Josh Shumway
Running mate: Cameron Burleson
The Daily: What are the main points of your campaign? Baker : “Our overall idea is bridging the gap. Our biggest point is mental health. Our campus is in a time of budget cuts, but there are still ways we can better inform our students, bring more awareness and provide more effective services to students. This includes updating the mental health website for the university and pushing to include information on different resources on the syllabus for classes. Along with that, we want to push inclusivity. One way we want to do this is to make sure every academic building has at least one gender neutral bathroom. There needs to be more in the library and at least one on each floor in the union. We also want to introduce the idea of a dinner table event where SGA will host a monthly dinner with different people of the OU community. We would get everyone together and discuss different things about the university and what we can do to make it better. This would make people feel closer and more a part of the university community, which is what we are pushing.” The Daily: Why should students vote for you? Baker: “I’m not necessarily asking for people’s votes. I want to make sure that I present a platform and ideas that people want to give a vote to. I want to win, but if you don’t believe in my platform and what I want to do, then vote for a person you do believe in. I hope I do provide that platform for students, but if I don’t, then let me know, and I can change it. I want students to vote for me because I am here to listen to you and to be your voice. Vote for me if you believe in me and if you want to work with me because I want to work for you.”
Running mate: Jacob Thomas
The Daily: What are the main points of your campaign? Marks: “The biggest thing we have is community outreach. We plan on doing this in multiple ways. We will be reaching out to different groups in the community, one of these being Mission Norman, which is a food pantry that we want to partner with. We also want to do things with sustainability to keep OU and Norman green and start community building programs where our cabinet gets students plugged in and engaged. Our next point is inclusivity. Our motto is ‘We are one.’ We want to have town hall meetings with student organizations and leaders on campus so we can come together and discuss what we want to do to move forward. Another big point is the introduction of a food pantry on campus. This will be opening soon, and we want to continue to work with them and make sure that students have what they need.” The Daily: Why should students vote for you? Marks: “The biggest thing is that we have not waited. We are game changers that are here to make things happen. We have not waited to get elected to start implementing the things we want to do on campus — we have already reached out to groups on campus and in the community. So once we are elected, we can hit the ground running and start positive change.”
Running mate: Landon Wright
The Daily: What are the main points of your campaign? Abernathy: “There are multiple issues we care about, but there are three main points. The first is sexual assault. We want to address rape culture and educate students on sexual assault and the effect on the lives of victims through mandatory training. The second is mental health. This is a personal issue for me, and we want to highlight and expand the services and resources available to students and also de-stigmatizing the idea of getting help. Our last main point is expanding options for financial assistance for first generation and minority students. We would do this through putting more funds into the Heritage Scholarship and continuing to give and expand funding for Project Threshold.” The Daily: Why should students vote for you? Abernathy: “SGA has been an organization that has been somewhat separated from students, and students don’t feel connected. We want to open SGA up to the student body. I’ve enjoyed my experience as an ally for the LGBTQ community, and I want to be an ally for all students. We want to make sure that what they want to see happen on campus happens and that their voice is heard. This isn’t about us. This is about making change on campus and hearing the voices of students that feel unheard and bringing those to the forefront.”
EYES ON ELECTION DAY Students will be able to fill out two different ballots on Election Day next month — one at the polls for the U.S. president and one online for SGA president. SGA presdential elections will be held online via OrgSync Nov. 8 and 9.