Between April 26 and 30th, Madison College students lined up (or logged in) to cast their ballot for their student body representation. The Clarion sat down with the new Senate officers to ask them what the student body can expect from them in the academic year to come.
Colin Bowden won a hard fought campaign against Devon Cook and Michael Patton for the position of Student Senate President. Bowden says his main priority is to serve the student body by working to lower costs on “bread and butter” expenses like food and textbooks on campus. Prioritizing fiscal responsibility, he also champions what he calls “smart spending” and plans to return what costly fringe benefits were granted to him.
Above all, Bowden emphasizes, “I want to represent every student, not just those that voted for me, but every single student, including those at satellite campuses or those that didn’t even vote.”
Yacouba Sibi will be the Student Senate’s new Vice President of Administration and Finance. Sibi spoke of the need to “work from the deficit budget and turn it into a regular budget. The first thing is to get the budget balanced.” Sibi went on to say that one key issue he will be working on is effective spending.
The race for Vice President of Team Development was particularly close. Protective Services student Angie Danielski eked out a 2-vote lead against Makiko Omori. Danielski says her priority over the summer is to promote cohesion and teamwork among the executive officers. She also wishes to encourage Senators to volunteer, “I’d like to see Senate be more involved in service work as well. It is important as leaders that we lead by example.”
Caroline Russell, will be the new Vice President of Legislative Affairs. In her new role, Russell says she will continue to work with state and local legislators to lobby for increased funding to the Wisconsin Technical College system, and to fight for maintaining and expanding accreditation with UW system schools.
Another priority of Russell’s, in her own words: “If I could say one thing over and over it’s the need to inform students.”
Also on the ballot was a referendum to expand the Madison College Fitness Centers. The referendum passed with an overwhelming, nearly 6 to 1, majority and will cost students an additional $0.65 per credit. The additional revenue will be used to maintain the fitness centers at the Truax and Downtown campuses, as well as to fund the Student Health Clinic in the new Health Education building at the Truax campus.