Lamar Dowling

Hello, my fellow SMU students. My name is Lamar Dowling, and I am running for student body secretary. Over the past two years, I have had the privilege of serving Student Senate as the Organizations Committee chairman. This position has allowed me to lead 41 student organizations through the chartering process, allowing these organizations to become officially sanctioned by SMU and the Student Senate.

While being organizations chair, I have been able to build close relationships with many organizations that represent countless facets of student life. I have been able to meet and work with students from all walks of life and see the soul of the student body.

Throughout my involvement on campus, I have gained the experience, organizational skills and relational skills to properly carry out the duties of student body secretary. The duties of secretary include many weekly routine tasks and the honor of serving as the chairman of the Code of Conduct Revision Committee, all of which require a highly organized and detail-oriented person.

While this might serve as the bulk of outlined job description, it is also key that the student body secretary works together with the other student body officers and the Executive Committee to enact change on this campus. If change is going take place at SMU, we must come together for a common goal and lead the administration in the direction we feel SMU must head.

As student body secretary, I will strive to strengthen the bonds between the SMU student body and our faculty, staff, and administration. This relationship is critical if any change is expected to occur on our campus. As student body secretary, I will relate and listen to all members of the student body but also be willing to informatively converse and seek direction from our administration in order to create a stronger bond between students and faculty.

Also, communication between Student Senate and the entire student body is in dire need of attention. How often do influential pieces of legislation get passed in our chamber, but its effects are not heard of by the student body? I pledge to make this my main concern as your student body secretary.

By establishing meaningful relationships with our different media outlets and also the hard-working members of our SMU Student Senate, I will not only help inform the student body of Senate’s accomplishments, but also make the general student body aware that their voices can be heard. Once Student Senate is more visible, students can make us aware of their concerns and needs. With your support, you and I WILL make a difference at SMU.

I would appreciate your support today and Thursday, and when voting remember: LAMAR is Raising the Bar!

Lamar can be reached at [email protected].

John Jose

Today and Thursday, you’ll get a chance to influence what happens in student government at SMU.

I’m John Jose, currently a first-year Senator, I’m running for student body secretary, and I will do what I say I will do.

This is because the issues I’m campaigning on impact me as much as they impact all students. Tuition is increasing by 8 percent, a ridiculous amount. Half a percent of that increase is to pay for the Dedman Center fo Lifetime Sports, which is completed, yet the administration has stated that they will not remove it from the tuition increase, now or ever. This is shameful and has to stop.

Also, there have been recent thefts and break-ins at off-campus areas where students live, yet the SMU Police Department takes no responsibility for what happens off campus. SMU PD should stop writing tickets and start doing its job. Security at off-campus areas is shameful; SMU takes no responsibility for what happens on Fraternity and Sorority Rows.

Overall, though, student government here at SMU needs to be taken more seriously, not just by the general student body but by the administration as well. So, in addition to focusing on specific issues such as I mentioned above, I will do my best to increase the scope and power of student government.

We should be able to call university officials in front of Senate and make them answer frank questions from senators about such issues. Dr. Gibson should stand in front of the Student Senate and answer pointed questions about the tuition increase. The vice president for Student Affairs should make a regular appearance at Senate meetings and hear and address all student concerns. Senate should stop begging and start telling.

The student body secretary must be willing and able to deal with external matters, such as discussing issues with the administration and student groups, as well as internal, such as ensuring that SMU Student Senate runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Therefore, the ability to listen and work well with others is critical. As a nationally ranked debater, I know that listening is the most crucial part of effectively responding to student concerns and issues.

The Secretary must be able to work with the vice president over internal matters and with the president on external matters while retaining and expressing his own opinion. I can provide these two seemingly contradictory qualities: the readiness to listen to others, and the willingness to be an outspoken advocate for the causes I believe in.

John can be reached at [email protected].

Jonathan Lane

All right guys, it’s that time of year. Yes, spring is almost here. But it’s also the time of the year for something else. It’s time to cast your vote in the student body general elections, and to be more specific, to vote for me, Jonathan Lane, for student body secretary.

For the last two years, I have been one of the most active members of the Senate, passing pieces of legislation ranging from expanding the streams of communication between Senate and student groups, to helping revitalize a dated Senate committee structure into something novel and efficient.

I headed a piece of legislation that insisted the administration start footing the bill for things like the Health Center and the Office of New Student Programs, so that we the students can use the student fees given to us. I was also a primary author of a piece discussing the numerous shortcomings of the Real Food on Campus program provided at Umphrey Lee and Mac’s Place, specifically how we’re paying a lot and getting a little. In short, I don’t just talk about doing things – I do them.

It’s time for more of the same. One of my principal initiatives is something I’m tentatively calling “Senate Blogs.” No, it wouldn’t be a venue for elected representatives to vent about their significant others or ramble about their statistics test on Friday. Rather, it would allow students who vote and elect representatives to hold those representatives accountable by seeing what they’re working on, how they’re voting, and their general Senate sentiments.

This would mean that Senate can finally gain the much-needed transparency that would significantly lessen the disconnect between our student government and our student body.

We need a student body officer who has both experience and vision. We need a student body officer who understands the value of persistence in the face of criticism. We need a student body officer who understands the value of having the ability, opportunity, and duty to serve others, and how to use that service in such a way that all students of this fine University benefit.

And we need someone who will finally do what he says he will do. No more empty promises, no more campaigning on ideas that are far outside the scope or job description of a student body secretary (or even beyond that of our Senate as a whole). It’s time for someone who will make realistic, not idealistic, promises, and will follow through every step of the way.

I am looking forward to receiving your vote for Student Body Secretary today and tomorrow. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly at jllane@smu.

Thank you, and go Mustangs!

Jonathan can be reached at [email protected].