Get to know the candidates: BUSINESS SENATOR
JUSTIN REES
Justin Rees said his leadership experience and character will be strong factors in making him a successful senator.
* Why should students care about ASUSU?
Rees said though many students think that ASUSU has little influence on the administration and campus affairs, it is still important. If students ever want to make any sort of change or be heard it is through ASUSU, he said.
“As small as that voice may be, that’s the only voice we really have,” Rees said.
* What research have you done for your platform?
Rees said he was on the Business Council this year, and that experience has given him insight on how things work in the college.
“I think that that gives me an advantage, because I am not just starting from scratch,” Rees said. “It’s not an easy job, and I think that my experience will give a little bit of an edge.”
He said as a business student and council member, he has listened to other students and is perpetually thinking of ways to improve the program.
* How do your platform and qualifications relate to the position you are running for?
Rees said that being on the Business Council and knowing what is going on already is a big factor that qualifies him for the job, along with previous business and leadership experiences.
“I am totally committed to working hard and am ready to put forth the effort,” he said. “I really am serious about doing a job as a senator and not just going through the motions.”
* In what ways do students need to become a greater focus for Business Council?
“I think with a really good Business Council and faculty connections, we can make the College of Business better for [students] and give them a little more pride in what they are doing,” Rees said. “If students have that then the faculty and administration will push harder for improvements.”
He said he would do that by getting students more involved, more informed and giving them a bigger voice.
* What made you decide to run?
“I just sincerely want to help out,” Rees said. “I have an understanding of what is going on, and I’d like to carry on some of the things that we have started this year and take the things we haven’t done and make it possible for next year.”
–tje@cc.usu.edu
AMBERLY NIELSEN
Amberly Nielsen said she can bring a fresh perspective to the College of Business.
* Why should students care about ASUSU?
“ASUSU, whether students know it or not, really is there to enhance their college careers and make it better for them,” Nielsen said.
* What research have you done for your platform?
She said she has talked to this year’s senator about what didn’t get done this year and what needed to be done next year. She said she also talked to numerous business majors and professors, as well as other ASUSU members, in formulating her platform.
* How do your platform and qualifications relate to the position you are running for?
“I’m a business student,” Nielsen said. “I am not on any current business councils, that’s true, but as business student myself, I care about my education in the College of Business and I want to see change.
“I’m vice president of my sorority, so that is a huge responsibility,” she said. “I have committees underneath me inside the sorority, I am on committees and I am in Best Buddies, so I am involved.”
* Why did you decide to run?
“Mainly because I have been on the other side,” Nielsen said. “I know it sounds so cliché, but I want to make a difference.”
She said she feels like too many freshmen and sophomores fall through the cracks, so she is focusing on advising in order to prevent that.
* Past senators have tried and failed to implement peer advising. How will you make a difference?
Nielsen said she thinks that in the past, they have wanted to implement it but focused more on general advising.
“With the budget cuts, it’s not really feasible to hire all new advisers,” she said. “I am basically focusing on getting the volunteers.”
* How will you strengthen the Business Council?
“I would probably decrease the size of the council to give everybody more of a sense of belonging, so they feel their role on Business Council is more influential and they have more responsibility,” Nielsen said. “I know what I want to do, and I am going to get it done.”
–tje@cc.usu.edu