The Editorial Board members of The Daily Campus are endorsing Patrick Kobler for the position of Student Body President. Kobler, the current Student Body Vice President, is very passionate about voicing the opinions of the student body, and is not afraid of expressing his beliefs in regards to more negative subjects.
Specifically, Kobler wants to keep the “You” in SMU by reforming the General Education Curriculum, work towards clarifying the current social registration process within the Greek system and improve Senate relationships throughout the Hilltop. Kobler also plans to work on changing the current social activity registration in favor of adding Thursday night bus parties and off-campus house parties.
In regards to the current GEC standards, Kobler wants to add a service component to the requirements, “forcing students to get away from the SMU bubble.” Other changes to the curriculum include tailoring classes towards specific majors so as not to alter students’ GPA.
Vice President: Allison Reyes
For the position of Vice President, The Daily Campus endorses Allison Reyes. Actively involved in her sorority, Reyes is passionate about improving numbers within minority organizations, by helping promote events around campus and informing students of their existence. Improving communication between students and Senate is also a goal of Reyes’, who plans to write a blog following each meeting alerting students to what ideas were discussed and passed at Senate meetings.
Reyes is currently working on adding more short-term parking throughout campus, as well as implementing e-mail alerts to notify students when they have pending parking tickets. With past experience from being in Student Senate, Reyes already has the experience to implement her ideas.
Changing the current advising situation on campus is also another priority to Reyes. By adding one advisor for graduation requirements and one strictly dealing with a student’s specific major, class schedules will be more beneficial to students, and work in favor of getting students in classes they are genuinely interested in.
Secretary: Peter Goldschmidt
The Editorial Board endorses Peter Goldschmidt for the position of Student Body Secretary because of his willingness to directly involve students in expressing their ideas to Student Senate. Goldschmidt plans to add different sections to the current Student Senate Web site that would allow for students to submit ideas of their own, or offer their opinions about current issues.
In conjunction with Kobler’s plans to change the GEC standards by making some of the more challenging classes pass/ fail options to encourage students to enroll in harder courses. Goldschmidt also wants to expand cultural studies, as well as several foreign languages majors to appeal to a broader audience.
Candidates were invited to participate in interviews with The Daily Campus Editorial Board was comprised of Nicole Jacobsen, Liz Ford, Meredith Shamburger, John Coleman, Bradley Olmstead, Christina Geyer and Russ Aaron. Endorsements were based on a majority vote of the board.
