2
Wednesday, February 1,1995
Student Body President Candidates
Six camps including two pairs are vying for the top post in student government. Students will cast their ballots on Feb. 14.
Stacey Brandenburg
BYULL DUNCAN
STAFF WRITER
Stacey Brandenburg, a junior political
science major from Atlanta, said she was
running for student body president because
of her belief in student empowerment.
“When I entered (Student Body Presi
dent) George Battle’s administration, I saw
the potential for student government, ” she
said. “It is about identifying student prob
lems and making them better, no matter
how small they may seem.”
Brandenburg stressed the importance of
cooperation within the branches of student
government and with University adminis
trators. “We will have anew chancellor
and anew vice chancellor of student af
fairs; It is imperative that we initiate them
with the importance of student voice.”
Brandenburg considers herself an “out
siderwith an insider’s opinion.
. Although she has served on student
government, Brandenburg said she is first
and foremost a student.
Brandenburg said that the focus of stu
dent government was students and that
therefore she considered communication
with the student body important.
If elected, Brandenburg said she planned
to set up meetings in the Pit as a kind of
open forum every week. She also said that
she wanted to eat once a week at Lenoir so
that students could talk to her.
“Students are important. No idea is too
smalland no student is insignificant. Their
BY ADAM GUSMAN
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Robert Simes, a junior political science
major from Shelter Island, N.Y., is run
ning for the student body presidency with
a campaign plan to bring marked changes
to the way student government is currently
run.
A resident assistant in Hinton James,
Simes considers himself to be an outsider
to student government.
But he said he thought that would help
him bring wholesale changes to the way
student government operated if he were
elected.
Simes said his first goal would be to
change the way Suite C operated.
“I would staff Suite C at peak hours
between 10 and 4 —with either Cabinet
members or volunteers,” according to
Simes
Simes said he thought someone should
be there to address student concerns.
“This gives students a feeling of know
ing what’s going on. Right now, students
' -n’t even know where Suite C is, and we
ed more student involvement,” Simes
said
Simes also said that he would also man-
J- ite that Student Congress representatives
ueet twice a semester with their constitu
ents.
Simes also proposed the creation of a
■arson position between Student Congress
Fiumara and Berkaw
BYNANCY FONTI
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
’en Fiumara and Jeff Berkaw said that
if they were elected to serve asjoint student
body presidents they would be able to
u . ..esent different viewpoints and keep
each-other from grabbing for too much
personal power.
t’s a big job. but with two people
*'Xiong together, we’ll get more accom
plished,” said Fiumara, a public policy
major from Montgomery, Ala.
' 'The main focus of student government
should be the whole campus, and there are
many, different issues,” said Berkaw, a
business administration major from De
troit.
TAs two candidates, maybe we’ll be
able to represent both sides of the issues,”
he added.
Berkaw is a resident assistant in
Ehtjnghaus Residence Hall.
Fiumara is a member of the Honor
Court and chairwoman of the Honors
Advisory Board.
“I think it will be good to have two
people as student body president, ” F iumara
said;
"If for some reason we did come to
some conflict, we would have to compro
mise, and this would only help us to repre
sent the student body better.”
Berkaw and Fiumara said their decision
to run for joint student body presidents
rather than as single candidates had come
from their dissatisfaction with past student
government issues.
“I was on the Honor Court when John
Dervin (was rejected), and I was really
upset with the politics,” Fiumara said.
"It was then the seed was planted
student government shouldn’t be about
ideas are valid and will be attended to.”
Her experience as co-secretary of the
Academic Affairs Committee included
serving as a liaison to the Faculty Council.
She helped draft the student Bill of Rights,
which she said helped give students owner
ship of their education.
She is now working on —and she said
she planned to continue if elected im
proving the advising and adviser facilities.
She said she had established the Student
Advisor Committee and planned to make
sure that this open committee continued.
Advising needs reform, Brandenburg
Robert Simes
3 % .'9V ;
and the executive branch, which could
possibly be in the form of a joint commit
tee.
“I would ensure that the student body
president and his liaison staff are at every
Student Congress meeting,” he said.
“It promotes the idea of caring, of an
open student government that’s effective."
Simes said that, if he wins the race, he
would appoint two vice presidents, one
who would focus on undergraduate con
cerns and one for those of graduate stu
dents.
politics; it should be about getting things
done. ”
“There is a general stigma attached to
student government that there is a lot of
bickering,” he said.
“It is more like a real government as
opposed to a student government, ” Berkaw
added.
If elected, Berkaw and Fiumara said
they planned to attend meetings of campus
organizations to get an idea of what the
organizations needed from student gov
ernment
“It is important that we open it up to
more people and get more people to care, ”
Berkaw said.
“There are a lot of people who whine
about it, and I guess we just decided to do
something about it.”
Berkaw also said they would try to im
prove communication between students
CAMPUS ELECTIONS
said. Advisers need to spend more time
with students, and students need to have
access to advisers earlier, like at C-TOPS,
she said.
Brandenburg has a five-plank platform:
academics, human relations, environment,
University services and student govern
ment.
She would also like to introduce a co-op
program where students can receive credit
for paid internships.
Brandenburg said she hoped to begin a
statewide human relations summit.
She also said she wanted to make recy
cling easier.
“We need more recycling bins. We
should have bins for cans, newspapers,
glass and plastic in the Union, at least.”
If elected, Brandenburg plans to increase
security by expanding the lighting between
South Campus and Kenan Stadium. She
also said she wanted more dorms to be kept
open during holidays.
Brandenburg said that if she were
elected, she would sit down with every
Congress member as soon as everyone was
sworn in and would establish relationships
because “everyone must work together for
the government to be successful.”
Brandenburg is a member of the Honor
Court, the Committee on Student Con
duct and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
As an N.C. Fellow, she set up a conference
for the chancellor selection committee to
discuss criteria and qualifications for the
new chancellor.
He said he thought the most important
issues facing student government were the
lack of student involvement and the inac
cessibility of leadership.
“The more people I talk to, the more I
hear, ‘I don’t know what’s going on.’ My
concern is the student body, and ensuring
that the student government addresses their
concerns,” Simes said.
He said his administration would also
focus on revising the UNC Student Gov
ernment Code to make it understandable
and concise.
As for accessibility, he said he would try
to hold talks in the Pit twice a semester and
to write monthly columns in The Daily Tar
Heel.
“We would make it easier for people to
get in touch with Cabinet members so they
can get involved.”
Simes said the new chancellor should
also be accessible to students.
“Let’s get the new chancellor down in
the Pit talking to students,” he said. “The
chancellor should be a recognized person
on campus.”
He also said that faculty salaries needed
to be addressed.
“Our peer institutions pay faculty much
more than we pay.”
In general, Simes said, his administra
tion would stress communication and open
ness.
“We’re going to get people togethei and
share ideas.”
and the administration if elected.
“Being co-SBPs we would be more ac
cessible. With two people there are 48
hours in the day as opposed to only 24,” he
said.
Accountability should be a big concern
of the student body president, Berkaw and
Fiumara said. Since Berkaw lives on cam
pus and Fiumara lives in an apartment,
both off-campus and campus housing is
sues will be represented, they said.
As co-student body presidents, Fiumara
and Berkaw said they would be able to
keep the decision-making processes in
check.
“I could see some people taking office
as student body president and really taking
off on a power trip,” Berkaw said.
“But with two, I think the consensus
really kicks in, and it will make sure both
sides of the issue are covered.”
Calvin Cunningham
BY NANCY FONTI
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Calvin Cunningham said that if he is
elected as the next student body president,
his goal will be to communicate the needs
of the students to the University’s new
chancellor and to the N.C. General As
sembly.
“This is going to be an important year
for student government,” according to
Cunningham, a senior from Lexington who
is majoring in political science and phi
losophy.
“There’s a lot of talk of budget cuts and
tuition raises coming from the General
Assembly, and I think student government
needs to be in a strong position to receive a
new chancellor.”
Cunningham, who transferred here from
Vanderbilt University, said he had been
involved with student government for two
years at UNC.
Cunningham is currently the vice presi
dent of the Association of Student Govern
ments and acts as the assistant chief of staff
to present Student Body President George
Battle.
Cunningham also was State Relations
Co-coordinator during former Student
Body President Jim Copland’s administra
tion.
“My ambitions and interests have cul
minated in my desire to run, ’’ Cunningham
said.
“Student government doesn’t need to
Andrew France
BY NANCY FONTI
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Andrew France said that if he is elected
to be the next student body president he
will try to set a tone of tolerance toward all
ideas within student government leader
ship.
France, a junior majoring in math and
political science, said he is currently a
member of the Intervarsity Christian Fel
lowship, the Dialectic and Philanthropic
Literary Societies, and the Carolina Aca
demic team.
“I have always avoided running for of
fice, in those organizations,” France said.
“This is kind of a paradoxical thing for
me.”
However, France said that he had fol
lowed student government for the past two
years.
He added that he had noted, from his
observations, that most of the members of
student government took themselves too
seriously.
“Asa result, when they don’t agree with
someone else they bring up ethical charges
instead of trying to resolve the problem,”
he said.
If elected, France said he planned to
appoint Jeanne Fugate as his vice presi
dent.
Fugate is a junior majoring in English
from Ocala, Fla.
He said that although they had different
William* and Gamer
BY JAY STONE
STAFF WRITER
Michael Williams and Kelly Jo Gamer
hope to serve as the University’s first co
student body presidents. They said this
campaign might be challenged by some
people.
“At this point, we’ve decided to retain
our co-presidency status, ” Gamersaid. “If
people decide to challenge it, we will de
fend it.”
Williams said that if it were decided that
they could not run as co-presidents then he
would run for president and Gamer would
be his vice president.
Williams said they had decided to ran
as co-presidents because they felt his expe
rience in student government would com
bine well with Gamer’s student perspec
tive.
“Kelly and I originally decided to ran
because ... we both feel that there is a lot
that student government can still do for
students,” Williams said.
“We feel it’s important that ‘Joe Stu
dent’ ran rather than the stereotypical idea
of a politician running,” he said.
Williams said that his experience with
student government began when he was a
freshman and that he had been active ever
since.
He worked for student body president
Jim Copland on the Committee for Race
Relations and Minority Concerns. He also
served on the chancellor’s committee for
minority concerns and disadvantaged stu
dents.
Last year, he worked with the Elections
Board, assisting and working in the polls.
“Under George Battle, I was a member
of the information and technology task
force and assisted on various other techno
be embodied in conflicts like it was last
year,” he added.
“With proper communication within
student government, we would satisfy a lot
of conflicts.”
Cunningham said that his platform
would include items like re-evaluating the
advising system and making the informa
tion superhighway more accessible to stu
dents.
“There are a lot of problems with the
University, and student government has a
responsibility to try to communicate the
needs of students to the University,” he
moral values, ideologies and opinions, they
remained friends and were able to share
ideas.
France said he hoped tolerance would
set the mode of student government under
his administration.
“I guess our vision is to follow this type
of lead and get things accomplished in
stead of paralyzing the system by bicker
ing,” he said.
“We have different friends from differ
ent backgrounds,” France said.
“If they see Andrew France and Jeanne
AB jL ■>'
logically oriented projects in Suite C,” he
said.
Gamer said that she had no formal
experience with student government but
that she could help to bring a student’s
perspective to the position.
“Michael and I can bring a different
perspective and be the unifiers of this cam
pus.”
Williams and Gamer do plan some
sweeping changes in student government
but want to fine-tune their ideas, they said.
"We’re believers in the system,” Will
iams said. “We believe reform can happen
within the system and that student govern
ment has the potential to do more for
students.”
One idea Williams and Gamer will lobby
for is what they call e-mail advising. They
said that if they could bring this idea to
UNC, students would have greater acces-
®lje Sailg
said.
But the biggest responsioility of the stu
dent body president, Cunningham said, is
maintaining open communication with the
students in orderforthestudentbody presi
dent to represent them all well throughout
the year.
“There are two chief roles for student
government,” he said.
“One is to be an advocate for students,
and the other is to be a service provider for
students.
“Suite C has always tried to maintain an
open-door policy,” according to
Cunningham.
“I want to continue to listen to what the
concerns are—both personally and as part
of the administration.”
Cunningham also said that he planned
to foster openness through an on-line cam
pus calendar that would be sponsored by
the executive branch of student govern
ment.
“The increasedcommunicationwillhelp
student government know what the stu
dents want,” Cunningham said.
“I think the student body’s perception
of student government is somewhat am
bivalent,” he said.
“This year has been bogged down by
petty politics, and I think that the student
body has tuned student government out,”
Cunningham said.
He added, “One way to overcome that
is to focus on the big problems facing the
University.”
Fugate working together, that may send a
message.
“Part of it is inherent within Jeanne and
within me,” he added.
“We haven’t grown into a student gov
ernment culture that pushes papers around
and talks only to certain groups,” France
added.
France also said that if he were elected
he would be open to all students and stu
dent organizations.
“I have a lot of friends with no power
sways of any type. Most people in student
government have ran since their freshmen
year and have only made the friends they
need,” he said.
Although France did not comment spe
cifically on his platform, he said that if he
were elected, he would cooperate with
Student Congress.
“We all know that while student body
president is a powerful position, it is not
able to keep huge promises,” France said.
“If we are in this position and an avenue
opens to make an improvement in student
leadership, we will exercise towards it,” he
said.
He also said he wanted to serve as a
voice for students who, like himself, had
never been involved with student govern
ment.
“I’m very open to talking to people, and
I make time for people,” France said.
“I don’tlookat how important a person
is before I hang out with them.”
sibility to information they currently re
ceived from their advisers. They also plan
to publish a monthly newsletter that keeps
the students informed on the “state of the
campus.”
Williams and Gamer said they had been
active in many different student groups
that fought for student rights.
Williams served as the advertising man
ager of the Lambda in 1991 and is an active
member of B-GLAD.
He said he had worked on several
projects with the Asian Students Associa
tion. Both are N.C. Teaching Fellows, and
Gamer serves as a secretary in that pro
gram.
Williams, from Horse Shoe, is a junior
middle grades education major specializ
ing in mathematics and social studies.
Gamer is a junior French education
major from Winston-Salem.