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Kimball, Rhodes win
Kimball and Rhodes claim presidential positions, legal services referendum passes
By Adam Hammer
Published:
Monday, April 19, 2004
Hal Kimball and Bianca Rhodes won the student government elections to become president and vice president for 2004-05.
Kimball and Rhodes beat Eamonn O'Moore and Umer Qureshi at a margin of 658 to 527.
The referendum for a legal services office also passed by a vote of 784 to 418, leaving presidential candidate O'Moore pleased with his efforts although disappointed by his presidential loss.
"I tried to run things as positive as possible," O'Moore said. "And I think it went well in that aspect."
All 11 senator at-large applicants passed the vote and six write-in candidates were named.
Run-offs for write-ins will be conducted April 29 during the student government meeting.
When Election Committee Chair Rachel Hughes notified Kimball at 9:07 p.m. Thursday of his victory, his first thoughts were those of thanks.
"My first thoughts were to get all of our people together to celebrate a hard fought win," Kimball said. "We could not have done this without them."
"I realized that there were a lot of people who believed in me to do the job," Rhodes said. "My first thought was that student government will never be the same. I started thinking about all the things that will need to change in order to better serve the students."
O'Moore was simply pleased that the two weeks of debates had ended.
"You can only take so much of someone talking bad at you," O'Moore said. "I mean we come from the same campus. It would be like Kerry and Dean kicking it out left and right."
Qureshi, O'Moore's running mate, also noticed the effects of the debates.
"Mostly, I'm concerned about Eamonn," Qureshi said. "He took a lot of personal attacks these last few weeks. Especially on Wednesday (April 14) during the student government executive meeting when Hal saw Eamonn's campaign sunburn."
Kimball recalls an issues run campaign.
"We stuck to the issues we feel strongly about," Kimball said. "Politics in the U.S. have taken a tragically negative route in which both candidates slander each other. People are becoming sick of the negativity. We ran a campaign on the issues, not the opponent."
The most important factor to Kimball and Rhodes' victory was that they got the word out, Kimball said.
"We were the first to have flyers up all over campus," Kimball said. "We handed out 2,000 mini-flyers, spoke to dozens of classes, spoke in residence hall meetings and used every avenue available to spread our vision."
That vision will become a part of the student government when Kimball and Rhodes take their presidential places in the fall.
"What's to come is the restoration of the student voice," Rhodes said. "Lobbying for SCSU to keep tuition affordable. To make sure that cultural diversity on this campus is not just a word, but a reality."
"In many respects, we want to continue the work started by the body this year," Kimball said. "We will take some time over the next few weeks to prioritize some of the issues we feel strongly about, sit down with some of our colleagues and determine where we want to go."
One topic of high concern for this year's administration was SCSU's relationship with Minnesota State Universities Student Association (MSUSA).
Kimball and Rhodes intend to keep the pressure on, they said.
"We will still be working on the MSUSA issue," Rhodes said. "That is very important to the students and student government."
Although O'Moore's relationship with the student government is still uncertain, Kimball doubts change in the proposed legal services office.
"It could change, but it doesn't have to. We support the program," Kimball said. "We have seen the need for a program such as this on campus for years. I am sure we will be able to sit down and figure out how to implement a pilot program. Our biggest concern though will be in the funding."
"If you're in the political science or pre-law programs, you run across numerous students requesting this sort of help," O'Moore said. "At least I can say I helped influence that."
O'Moore has been chief justice of the student government for two years, but is unsure of his position for next year because the position is appointed by the president.
"I feel I've let everyone down because I won't be able to help them as president," O'Moore said. "Rather than uniting everyone, I feel it's going to get fragmented."
Despite his worries for what's to come, O'Moore said he is pleased with his campaign and is thankful for all the friends he made during the past few weeks.
Kimball and Rhodes seem confident in their positions.
"I believe you will see more student input next year," Kimball said. "In reality, we are just going to be ourselves. We get out and just talk to students on a regular basis and will continue to do such. We are all a team here, trying to solve problems."
Senator at-large
Senator at-large candidates Vicky Pygnasak, Fue Khang, Cha Vang, Matthew Anderson, Monica Segura, Matthew Hayward, Fidelis Oketch, Evelyne Benie, Deepak Pandey, Courtny Warns and Alexis Gorsche all claimed their positions.
Write-ins Brent Bohan, Duane Bauer III, Wang Vang, Jennifer Kotila, Adriana Dobrzycka and Vanessa Birkle enter a run-off April 29, during the student government meeting.
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