Lamar Dowling is respectful, personable and will make a great student body secretary.
Ed Board is endorsing the sophomore finance and vocal performance major for secretary because we believe Dowling has the organizational skills necessary to fill the position.
Dowling currently serves as the chair of the organizations committee, walking 41 groups through the chartering process this year. This demonstrates both the ability to work with people and a firm grasp of Senate protocol. He also exhibits the ideal communication skills a secretary must possess.
Upon arriving for our interview, Dowling introduced himself to every Ed Board member, shaking hands and looking each person in the eye. Believe it or not, Dowling was the only candidate to do this. His bubbly personality and constant smile were refreshing.
Dowling looks forward to serving as a type of middleman in Senate. Due to his good people skills, Dowling feels he will be able to successfully negotiate between members of Senate and between Senate and outside parties.
Ed Board could not agree more.
Dowling wants to work on the Student Senate’s impact on the student body. Improving communication between students and Senate is another goal of his.
Dowling was interested in Student government from the get-go. During his first year at SMU, the Louisiana native helped, then student body president Liz Healy, raise nearly $50,000 in hurricane Katrine relief efforts.
Dowling has come up with strategies to improve the relationships between the student body and its Senate members.
For starters he would like to video the student senate meetings and post the minutes on the Senate Web site. He hopes this will keep the student body more informed about exactly what Senate is doing.
This was a difficult choice for Ed Board to make; both candidates are well-qualified for the job, and each of them had great ideas. Jonathan Lane, Dowling’s competition, had several good ones, including starting Senate blogs for all the senators.
But Ed Board thinks the position of secretary calls more for organizational and interpersonal skills, not just great ideas. While we have no doubt that Lane will continue to do great things for Senate, we have to give the edge to Dowling.
