Meet the 2010 SGA presidential candidates

With the SGA elections just around the corner and students being able to vote through e-mail March 22-24, one party is promising to fight for student ideals.Rock Revolution, led by 21-year-old political science major Ryan Sheely, wants to fight for change on campus, even if it doesn't happen right away.

"We have to try and start the fight now," Sheely said. "We are focused to help students and are determined to fight for their ideas."

Sheely decided to run for president this year after losing the race last spring for Building F senator. As a member of the Pants Party last year, Sheely lost by three votes. The loss only made him want to get involved more.

"After I lost last year, I spent a lot of time brainstorming and decided to run for president," Sheely said. "I got together a variety of students to try and bring to student government. I have also had success with the snow and ski board club. I've been president of that for two years and our membership has grown from 90 students to about 350 students."

Other members of his party are willing to fight for change, too. Junior Terrece Draper, a 21-year-old health and safety major running for vice president of student affairs said he feels that students' concerns need to be taken seriously.

"We're not about making false promises and want to make sure that all students' concerns are brought to the table," Draper said. "Unity is extremely important. We are all one campus and we need to try and unify the campus and get more organizations to work together."

The officers of Rock Revolution also said that it was important for students and organizations to understand the debt SRU is facing. Estimates right now predict that SRU may have a $9 million debt next year.

"I think we need to do a better job of allocating money," Sheely said. "This year, $8,000 was allocated for women's rugby travel for a stage-two thing. They're doing an awesome job this year, but some of that money could have been used for other things."

Anthony Price, a 22-year-old junior finance major, wants students to know that if it has to make tough financial decisions the new SGA board will.

"With the economy, students have to understand that there may be more budget cuts and some groups may get less funding," Price said. "But we will be transparent and will try to help students work through this."

Particular concern is being placed on athletics by many members of the party. Sheely said that he would be interested in seeing a sports ticker on the home page of the Web site to peak student interest.

Draper, who is a member of the track team, agrees that increasing the attendance at athletic events may increase school pride and help students stay on the weekends.

"I really support the efforts of the Rock Rowdies," Draper said.

"We need to get kids interested before the school year even starts. If we start in July, we can really get kids excited about going to events. It's all about planning, and by planning we can help get everyone excited."

One moment in particular bothered Sheely. Whenever the all-girls cheerleading team won the national championship team, he said he received an e-mail for their rally on campus at 11:35 a.m. for an event that was happening at common hour.

Mark Rogers, a 21-year-old junior political science major, agrees that there aren't enough activities for students on the weekends.

"I would like to see more weekend activities," Rogers said. "There aren't a lot right now and I feel that we need to do something to keep students here on campus.