Di Stefano takes seat as president
In an election that saw tears fall, sweat poured and laws broken, the students of Utah State University basically just duked it.
Duke Di Stefano received 2,299 votes, 1,142 more than his opponent, Jonathan Hemingway, on his way to being elected Associated Students of USU president for the 2003-04 academic year.
“Duke, for more than one reason, he was the best candidate in my eyes,” said current ASUSU President Celestial Bybee. “He is the best qualified for the position.”
Bybee said she is leaving the students of USU in good hands with Di Stefano as president.
“Once you put your heart and soul into something like I have for this position, to leave it to somebody that you know will take care of it and take the things you worked on and build on them, that’s one of the most important things that I can do,” she said.
Although the coming weeks will bring about difficult training for the new Executive Council, Di Stefano said he is anxious to start his position.
“I’m excited to be able to get in and get going and get working,” he said. “We have a great council — a lot of great people with great ideas.”
The announcement of the new ASUSU Executive Council finished off two weeks of campaigning and voting, which saw many close races, including the Athletics VP race where Tyler Olsen defeated Amanda Forman by one vote.
“Last year the exact same thing happened with Academics [VP],” said Public Relations VP Camey Hatch.
Hatch said people will call for a recount in a close race, but with the votes being computer generated and tabulated, there is no way the outcome would change.
“As far as I know, the [Athletics] race all the way through was that close,” Hatch said.
ASUSU doesn’t watch the vote totals of the elections during voting, Hatch said, but there is a person in the Informational Technology department who can view the status of the election at any given time.
In other races, Ariel Thrapp was elected to the executive VP position, Les Essig claimed the Student Advocate VP position, and Angie Hammond won a close race for the Diversity VP position over Eduardo Nunez-Huerta.
Hatch said the new elected officers will prepare for a retreat after Spring Break, and then will begin training for their new positions and committees for the new school year.
With two years of Executive Council experience behind her, Bybee said the new officers are in for a lot of hard work.
“They do have a tough year ahead of them,” she said. “I don’t envy them.”
Bybee said this year’s candidates were a little different from those in past years.
“We had a lot of students running for things that they might not have had as much experience as past candidates have experience in,” she said. “I feel good about all the candidates.”
Experience is a good thing for candidates, Bybee said, but desire and passion for the position can be of as much help.
–str@cc.usu.edu
President Celestial Bybee hugs Duke Di Stefano. (Photo by Scott Davis)