Meet the Candidates: Logan VP

Es Barnes

My name is Es Barnes, and I am from West Valley City, Utah. I am majoring in theater, getting my BFA in acting, and minoring in American Sign Language and disability studies. I am a junior right now — so an upcoming senior. 

Summarize your campaign and why you want to run for Logan VP 

The way that I would summarize my campaign is by saying that I want to make Logan campus a more inclusive and accessible place to be so that everyone who decides to spend their college experience here feels like this is where they belong. The reason that I wanted to run for Logan VP is because of the leadership opportunities that it offers with the Aggie Blue Leadership Conference that I’ve participated in as a participant my freshman year and then on the committee for the last two years, as well as the safety walk that Logan VP conducts to make sure that all of campus is accessible.  

What are the current biggest threats to Logan campus safety?  

 The biggest threats to Logan campus safety right now, as cheesy as it is, is hatred and an attitude of defensiveness that makes other people the enemy. I think if there was more of a community of love and acceptance, we wouldn’t really have as many problems as we do. There are also more physical things, like when the weather gets really stormy or icy — we need to be careful about those things. Things like the stairs that we have, we tend to have a lot of slips and falls. So that’s something physical, but I think a lot of it is mindset and mental. 

What is your favorite spot to study on campus?  

 My favorite spot to study on campus really depends on the season when it’s warm outside. I love going out to Old Main. Sometimes, I’ll go to the Quad. I love, love being outside and just finding a nice spot, but I would also say that in the winter or the colder months, I will go to the natural resources center because they have a waterfall, and I like hearing something in the background while I’m studying. So that place, and then there’s also one place in the music part of the FAC where there’s all the practice rooms, and I like hearing all the wonderful music students playing and rehearsing while I study.​     ​ 

AJ Brannan

 My name is AJ Brannan, I’m from West Jordan, Utah and I am a freshman here at Utah State University and I’m studying law and constitutional studies. 

Summarize your campaign and why you want to run for Logan VP 

To summarize my campaign, it all boils down to one word, and that’s ask. It’s accessibility, safety and keeping students first. And really my main motivation for running for Logan VP is to bring a new perspective to USUSA and get the students here on the ground at Logan into decision making all across Logan campus.  

What are the current biggest threats to Logan campus safety?  

 In my opinion, the biggest threats to Logan campus safety, and one of my main campaign points is having clarity in emergencies and also ample lighting all across campus. We’ve done great improvements all across Utah State to improve our lighting, but there are some areas that are off​​-campus but adjacent to campus that are still unsafe, and one of my goals is to work directly with Logan City Hall to fix those unsafe areas. 

 What is your favorite spot to study on campus? 

 My favorite spot on campus to study is gotta be in the new Ridge Point building. There is this little chair up on the very top sixth floor, and it overlooks Hello Walk and the library, and I can see all the way to Old Main. It’s a scenic view that distracts me from my studying most of the time​​, but it’s a good little spot.

 Kylie Back 

My name is Kylie Back. I’m a journalism major. I’m from St. George, Utah, and I’m a junior this year. 

Summarize your campaign and why you want to run for Logan VP . 

VP, for me — it’s about the Aggie connection. I believe that the students should have a Logan VP that wants to be involved and connected with the other students. For me, that means whether students feel safe on campus, to be seen, felt and heard. 

What are the current biggest threats to Logan campus safety?  

One of the biggest threats to Logan campus safety is at night when there’s not enough light by the crosswalks. Students don’t feel safe enough when they’re walking home from their classes, and that shouldn’t be the case. Students should feel like they’re not going to be getting hit by a car, but also, their pathways should be lit.​     ​ 

What is your favorite spot to study on campus? 

My favorite place to study on campus, probably, if I want to be social, the Huntsman, but if I need to lock in, probably the pods of the library. 

 Will Hull

 My name is Will Hull, and I am a senior in kinesiology.

Please summarize your campaign and why you wanted to run for Logan vice president. 

 The biggest thing that I’m running on is going to be transparency with both student leaders and with school administration to help make sure that students are well informed of everything that’s going on around them. I feel as though, sometimes, it’s hard as a student to know everything that is happening, and I feel like I as a potential Logan vice president candidate, can help kind of bridge that gap. 

 What are the current biggest threats to Logan campus safety? 

 I think the biggest threat to Logan campus safety is one area that is not necessarily lit. There’s a few that come to mind where — there’s a spot, kind of out by Aggie Village, kind of by the Student Living Center, where there’s a stretch of land, where there’s a stretch of road that doesn’t have any crosswalks on it for a while there. I personally have seen people trying to cross that busy intersection and basically have to be like dodging cars almost and kind of waiting for a long time there. As well as other spots, like, there’s this spot, kind of around Old Main where it isn’t lit up the best either, which I feel like there could be just like some improvement with that. ​     ​​     ​​     ​​     ​ 

 What is your favorite spot to study on campus? 

 I have to say, one of my favorite spots to study on campus has got to be the business building. I know I’m a kinesiology major, but I’ve had several classes there, and I really just like the glass and being able to kind of overlook a few things. I think it’s really cool.