Get to know the candidates: EXECUTIVE VP
ARIEL THRAPP
Ariel Thrapp is a candidate for ASUSU executive vice president.
* Why should students care about ASUSU?
“Students should care because they need a strong voice,” Thrapp said. “I think in ASUSU we have a lot to do with how the students work with the administration, how we work with the state and how we work with the community.”
Thrapp said ASUSU has a big pull in how the student voice is represented.
“I think they should know who cares about them,” she said.
* What research have you done for your platform?
Working with Celestial Bybee, Mike Waggoner and Lee Burge has given Thrapp a good idea of what is involved with the executive vice president position, she said.
Thrapp said working on a lobbying committee in the past has given her a foundation to build a new and improved lobbying committee for USU. She said she has also spoken with Academic vice president-elect Karla Petty about getting a credited study class available for students.
* How do your platform and qualifications relate to the position you are running for?
Thrapp said her qualifications all relate perfectly to the position. She said she has been one of the chairs on the Public Affairs Board and a member of president’s cabinet.
The president’s cabinet experience has been especially helpful, since the executive vice president would fill in for the president in his absence, Thrapp said.
She said her platform is all about getting students involved and aware and letting students know what their rights are.
* How do you plan to increase civic awareness among students who live off campus?
Through an e-mail list, Thrapp said, more students would be able to find out about issues that affect them and be able to have their input heard on those issues.
“A lot of students want to be involved, want their voice heard, but they don’t have time,” Thrapp said.
By making an e-mail list available, students could receive information on many issues and write letters to legislators or the administration based on the issues that interest them, Thrapp said.
–str@cc.usu.edu
ZACH TAKOS
Zach Takos is one of two candidates running for ASUSU executive vice president.
* Why should students care about ASUSU?
The student government is the way to go about changing things, Takos said.
“It’s not just a bunch of people sitting around doing nothing,” he said. “It’s really a way to change the school to make it a better place.”
* What research have you done for your platform?
Takos said he has spoken with each entity involved with his five platform issues and has discovered what is realistic in a platform and what is not.
“It’s unfortunate that candidates have been saying, ‘We want to beef up security by putting more police officers on campus,'” Takos said. “That is financially unfeasible.”
He said he has done extensive research for the landlord-tenant relations board and has worked closely with the director of the Disability Resource Center, finding ways for them to save money while getting students involved in service.
* How do your platform and qualifications relate to the position you are running for?
“I have five things that I want to do, and as executive vice president, I will have the authority to do every single one of them,” Takos said.
All of the platform goals can be realistically met with the authority given to his position, Takos said.
Takos said he would like to create Quad Talk, a time when the ASUSU Executive Council would all meet on the Quad with students, hearing any issues they might have.
He said he is more qualified than his opponent because he is not saying he will increase voter turnout, as there will not be an election during his term. (Editor’s note: Logan Councilman Alan Allred said there is a city election in November 2003.) He said he will work to increase voter awareness by trying to bring government guest speakers to USU.
* What is your vision for the landlord-tenant board?
Takos said he envisions the landlord-tenant relations board to be accessible and easy. Students would speak with a panel, which knows the ordinances front and back, about any problems they may have.
“Students can have issues like a leaky roof and their landlord is not fixing it, and we can tell them what they have to do,” Takos said.
–str@cc.usu.edu