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SGA president, vice president candidates announced

The Student Government Association announced its candidates for president and vice president of the 52nd administration. The Cougar asked the candidates about their main goals to accomplish, why they are running and their approach to handling conflict between students and the UH administration.

Candidates for President:

[tabgroup] [tab title=”Elisha Diaz”]

WEB-Brittaney-Penney-IMG_1422Classification: Sophomore

Major: Computer Information Systems

SGA Political Party: None

Past SGA positions held: None

Three major goals you want to accomplish: I hope to have more transparency between the administration (and the students), (and) an increased presence of SGA on the campus so we can help them, make people smile.

Why are you running for this position? I love people; every time I see someone in passing I say “Hi.” I truly like making people happy. I feel like being put in a position like this will maximize my potential to help people.

What would be your approach to handling conflict between the student body and the administration? First of all, setting an unbiased third party as sort of a mediator. I would make sure (they) each know they are on equal grounds (and) if no solution is found, compromise.

[/tab] [tab title=”Samuel Perez”]

WEB-Brittaney-Penney-IMG_1385Classification: Senior

Major: Political Science

SGA Political Party: None

Past SGA positions held: None

Three major goals you want to accomplish: I hope to fix parking issues, campus life and advising.

Why are you running for this position? To make UH a better place for the everyday, typical student on our campus.

What would be your approach to handling conflict between the student body and the administration? I would try to find common ground in order to solve the problem with the student body.

[/tab] [tab title=”Shaun Smith”]

WEB-Brittaney-Penney-IMG_1393Classification: Junior

Major: Civil Engineering

SGA Political Party: REDvolution

Past SGA positions held: Speaker of the Senate; Senator, Cullen College of Engineering

Three major goals you want to accomplish: Enrich student and residential life, highlight our collective diversity and opportunity and maintain the student body’s momentum and energy

Why are you running for this position? I am passionate about service and advocacy and have all demonstrated that in both my SGA experience and my personal life.

What would be your approach to handling conflict between the student body and the administration? Conflicts demand communication. If a representative isn’t willing to come to the table, then it does not serve their constituency. The student body and its representatives have a tremendous amount of autonomy and access to the administration.

[/tab] [/tabgroup]

Candidates for Vice President:

[tabgroup] [tab title=”Solida Chem”]

WEB-Brittaney-Penney-IMG_1411Classification: Freshman

Major: Digital Media

SGA Political Party: None

Past SGA positions held: None

Three major goals you want to accomplish: I hope to have more transparency between the students and administration, more student involvement and a better student lifestyle.

Why are you running for this position? I enjoy helping others with their problems that have been taken care of over a period of time.

What would be your approach to handling conflict between the student body and the administration? I would involve an unbiased third-party to see what their approach would be and work around all available ideas from them, the student body and the administration.

[/tab] [tab title=”Tanzeem Chowdhury”]

WEB-Brittaney-Penney-IMG_1360Classification: Junior

Major: Civil Engineering

SGA Political Party: REDvolution

Past SGA positions held: Senator-at-large; Senator, Cullen College of Engineering

Three major goals you want to accomplish: Better academic advising, more opportunities, improved student life.

Why are you running for this position? I think my running mate, Shaun Smith, along with our party REDvolution has the best opportunity to take our school to the next level.

What would be your approach to handling conflict between the student body and the administration? Effective, respectful communication that includes transparency.

[/tab] [tab title=”Joshua Selvidge”]

WEB-Brittaney-Penney-IMG_1387Classification: Junior

Major: Kinesiology

SGA Political Party: None

Past SGA positions held: None

Three major goals you want to accomplish: Increase security, open more parking areas for economy, decrease the time it takes to see an adviser.

Why are you running for this position? I am running for this position to increase my personal college experience to new levels as well as be the voice and intermediary of the student population.

What would be your approach to handling conflict between the student body and the administration? I would approach conflict between the student body and the administration in an aggressive manner in favor of the student body. Each student is investing significant time and money to attend this school and deserves to have their concerns heard and addressed by the administration.

[/tab] [/tabgroup]

Photos by Brittaney Penney/The Cougar  

Editor’s Note: The former We Party vice presidential candidate petroleum engineering junior Dharmik Mehta was removed from this list and will not be on the ballot because his presidential running mate is no longer a candidate for Student Body President.

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5 Comments

      • because in this day and age, it’s important to disqualify candidates for not being around to get a handout covering the rules instead of just disqualifying them for breaking the rules. It is 2015 and a damn webinar is just too hard.

        • The presidential candidate in question had already been removed from the running prior to the meeting. It was not because the individual “did not show up to the meeting.”

  • Hell Yeah Eli! RedVolution has a history of ignoring what the people care about, and only working to benefit themselves, It’s great to see somebody that’s willing to listen to the students running for this position!

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