ASSU elections: Eggers seeks continuity in his administration

Voting numbers nearly dipped below 1,000 total votes for this year's student government election, falling by 249 votes from last year's total. Six of the 11 positions in the election were uncontested, including that of ASSU president.


Just below 25 percent of the student body, or 1,039 students, voted online for 11 of the 15 ASSU representative positions for the 2010-2011 school year. Online polls were open April 28 to April 30. Last year, 1,288 students voted.


Junior philosophy major Kevin Eggers ran uncontested for the president position, winning the approval vote 904-135.

Eggers, current ASSU at-large representative, campaigned while advocating consistency from this year's ASSU to next year's. He also wants to work on making the student government more visible to students in general.


"I'm focused on retaining continuity from this year to the next," Eggers said. "I know it sounds like a buzz word, but I'd like to make ASSU more transparent than it is now."


Recently named a Truman Scholar for his work on health-care policy, Eggers spearheaded the inclusion of a new Medical Amnesty policy in Seattle University's code of conduct, allowing Good Samaritans to secure aid for intoxicated friends without fear of punishment.

Eggers also wants to forge greater connections with his peers at University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University, while continuing to work on Medical Amnesty as well as the possibility of having student Emergency Medical Technicians in the future.


"Kevin will do a great job. He's really in tune with concerned students because he's a concerned student himself," said Jesse David, current ASSU president. "He really cares about the issues. Even if he wasn't going to be ASSU president, he'd still be as active in the community as he is now."


For the position of executive vice president, Kaylee Venosky won a narrow race against Matthew Mauer, current ASSU transfer representative. Venosky received 488 votes compared to Mauer's 426.


"I'm terrified. There's a steep learning curve, and I've got a lot working against me," said Venosky, sophomore pre-major. "So many people don't even know what ASSU is; I want to publicize us more. If that means e-mailing every student myself, then I'll do that."


Venosky wants to bring a bigger voice to underrepresented students at Seattle U, according to her campaign last week. She described herself as "Fresh Meat" when it comes to student government experience.


Clare Monahan beat Kevin Mooers for ASSU vice president of finance 520-416. Monahan wants to work on ASSU's appropriations process, to make it more friendly for clubs to come to the student government and request funds.


Monahan, current athletic representative, was not impressed with the number of uncontested positions in the election, however. "I'm not excited about the lax I saw with the other positions during my campaign," she said. "But I'm hopeful about the athletic rep race in the fall; we'll have a couple good candidates for that one."


In the last executive position race, Mark Maddox won vice president of university affairs uncontested. Maddox, sophomore strategic communications major, said his primary role is to advocate for students' voices and create strong relationships between students and the administration.

"Students have opinions, and it's up to us to use their voice when deciding on important issues," Maddox said.


Jenna Tozi won in a landslide against Spencer Black, 644-280, for the senior representative position. Merlin Woodman beat Megan Leonard, 530-395, for junior representative. Tarah Finley narrowly beat Annaliza Albanes, 384-353 for 
transfer representative.


In the uncontested races, Morgan Mushlitz was confirmed as at-large representative and Hoa Do was confirmed as international representative. Margot Wolfersberger won sophomore representative and Osbaldo Hernandez won multicultural representative.


The new executives and officers will be sworn in at the end of May in a ceremony open to the Seattle U community. They will be trained through several ASSU retreats and informal training sessions.


The freshman, athletic, commuter and non-traditional representatives will be determined after ASSU elections in the fall.


Fernando may be reached at news@su-spectator.com