After two tight elections, the new Student Government Association President is senior political science major Demario Jones.
The run-off election began Monday between Jones and candidate Chris Nish after the results of the original election showed that Jones didn’t achieve the mandatory 50 percent plus one of the student votes to win the election. In the runoff election on April 26, 2010, 564 students voted for Jones, while 483 students voted for Nish.
President Jones is looking forward to working with everyone in SGA and plans to make his platform come to life. “Ever since I won I’ve been dealing with my platform. The issues such as parking, transportation and dining [are] depending upon how our executive board works with the people who are in charge of those departments. I don’t want anyone to assume that this is the ‘Demario Jones Show.’ It’s going to take a lot of effort from one person to get things accomplished.”
Jones also wants people to know that the topics discussed in his platform were proposals, not policies set in stone. The confusion comes from one of the proposals that Jones discussed in his platform at the Platform Meeting with the SGA candidates on April 14, 2010. The Academic Forgiveness Policy Jones proposed would take the new grade a student received when they re-take a class, and make it their final grade, instead of the original policy that averages out both grades. “I think people are quick to run into ‘Oh, you promised this and you promised that., I want to make one thing abundantly clear; The Academic Forgiveness Policy was something I would propose on behalf of the student body.”
Jones plans to work hard over the summer to improve the issues of parking, Internet and housing. When students return in the fall, they will be aware that the problems are fixed or in the process of getting resolved. “It’s kind of what happens in football; it’s the preparation you do helps the event take place. You can’t just plan change overnight.”
Students had mixed feelings about the results.
Justin Moore, a senior music performance major, feels that Jones deserved the title. “I think it was a well deserved win; I heard both presidential candidates speak and I felt like DeMario had some of the better points. I voted for him myself.”
“I knew about the SGA elections, but didn’t vote because I didn’t like
any of the candidates,” Craig Gaddis, sophomore general studies major, said.
Although Nish didn’t win the title of SGA President, he was still content with the election. “I think it went really well and we had a huge turnout, which I was really proud of.” Nish also has plans to remain in SGA by running as a senator. “I’m hoping to help revamp some of the senate Finance Committee maybe and possibly the senate judiciary.” Along with Nish’s plans for the future, he raised over 1,200 dollars for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital with his fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, at their annual Car Bash on Palms Quad yesterday.
With Nish’s experience as Vice President, he gives some advice to Jones. Nish advises Jones and vice president Adrian Gibson to be aware of parliamentary procedure and Roberts Rules of Order. “For Jones, I would tell him to manage his time wisely—it’s a lot harder than you think,” said Nish.