2008 Woodie Awards
Who do you support?
Student Government Association Elections 2008
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Opinions
From the Editor:
By Andy Harper
Dear "Sidelines" readers,
We have decided to delete all threads and disable the comment feature on the following submitted opinions pieces.
This is due to the inappropriate nature of some comments left by our users. We have and will reserve the right to monitor and delete any comments we find of a hateful and derogatory nature.
With that said, this is the first time we have found it necessary to remove all commentary on a story. We wholly support and defend the rights of freedom of speech and press; however I have never personally witnessed such a blatant disregard for civil discourse.
To those who remained true to thoughtful commentary, I apologize for the loss of your intelligent conversation on these candidates.
For those who find it necessary to use our forums as a means of personal attack on individuals, be mindful that we do not provide a service to ruin the dignity of other students, faculty, staff, alumni or community members. We exist as an outlet to inform, entertain and stimulate intelligent, reasonable debate.
Due to the gross misuse of our forum, we have immediately begun looking into stricter security policies. If you have any questions, concerns or criticisms, please do not hesitate to contact me via the information below.
Sincerely,
Andy Harper - Editor in Chief
615-904-8357
sleditor@mtsu.edu
Steven Altum
By Steven Altum
SGA should be open to all students of MTSU. This seems to be a popular sentiment when SGA elections come around. However, I do not feel that SGA is open to all students.
Over the last year the executive stipend has been cut. This is how much the executives get off on their tuition and the wage that they are paid for working through the semester.
This may seem to be a positive move on the surface, but when you examine it you will find that it is, in fact, limiting the number of students that can hold office in SGA. Being an executive officer is a full-time job and the pay is very little, so many students at MTSU cannot afford to be an executive. Most of the students depend on the money they make at their jobs to pay for rent, food, and other needs.
One of my main goals if elected to be president of SGA is to raise the executive stipend and make SGA more open to all students at MTSU. It is clear that many of the students that attend school here are here on financial aid and work part-time jobs. It is not fair that they should be punished for that. I am running as the President for everyone, not just the few.
Matthew Hurtt
By Lyn Wilhoite
There is a finally a person who will take the title of SGA President seriously.
Matthew Hurtt is one of the most dedicated human beings that I've ever come into contact with.
He is not running for a specific group on campus; he wants to better every current and future student's experience at MTSU.
His plans are realistic. Hurtt's battle for adequate funding, greater student involvement, and more marketable degrees is one that deep down every student wishes to wage on his or her own.
These are issues that everyone notices, but only one person will truly put forth the effort and time.
Hurtt is one of the only candidates that I can recall setting up a Web site, www.matthewhurtt.com, solely for the purpose of an SGA Election.
He has what it requires to overcome the struggles that come with these issues.
Sondra Wilson
By Gretchen Jenkins and Paul Fulcher
Sondra Wilson is a unique, charismatic student, one that is few and far between. Not only is she the most qualified student leader at MTSU, but perhaps the most qualified student leader in the state of Tennessee.
Having served in the past as Student Body President at Columbia State University, the Student Regent to the Tennessee Board of Regents and as the Student Commissioner to the Higher Education Commission, it is easy to see that her record of leadership is not lacking.
She originally piloted and successfully fought for the funding of a new science building through TBR. Sondra served as one of eight elite members on the U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling's policy for retaining and regaining college students and helped to pass MTSU's student-wide initiative for clean energy in 2006.
Sondra has established a tremendous rapport with campus administration and is widely known and respected throughout the state. An active participant in numerous campus organizations, a proven voice within the SGA and an active supporter for academic and campus policy, it is without hesitation that we give Sondra Wilson our highest recommendation for the office.
