Written by: Joe Adgie

For the first time in several years, a hopeful SGA senator was rejected by the legislative body−and it happened twice.

This occurred during a Monday night meeting that saw two other hopefuls elected with relative ease.

The two candidates voted down were Kimberly Taylor and Brianna Marshall. The SGA’s legislative body cited a lack of preparation from both Taylor and Marshall as red flags that indicated the potential for apathetic senators.

Taylor and Marshall failed to show up with a PowerPoint presentation, which for almost every SGA hopeful is a given requirement in their presentation to the legislative body.

Taylor was voted down with 15 “yea” votes, 17 “nay” votes and 3 abstentions. Marshall was voted down with three “yeas,” 28 “nays,” and four abstentions.

Taylor cited being forced out of her residence as the reason for not getting a PowerPoint ready.

“I had to move out of my room immediately or I would have been charged $435,” Taylor said. “I don’t have $435.”

Marshall, meanwhile, admitted that she was not prepared for the presentation; however, she said she would be prepared next week and that she could contribute to the SGA.

“I love everything that you all stand for,” Marshall said.

“Just from listening to them talk, I really believe they need a little bit more time to sit and watch our process to understand what we do,” Senator Edgar James said. “I don’t think they have a very clear understanding of what we do. We want people to come in that really understand and really have a fire and a passion for what we do at SGA. It isn’t just child’s play.”

Following up on James’ statement, Secretary Kara Fountain called the lack of presentation unacceptable.

“You all know that you are constantly having to check your emails, and that’s something that you check automatically,” Fountain said. “I’m pretty sure that they’ve known for a week now to do a presentation, so that is really not acceptable.”

Senator Tamara Dunn, in support of the two hopefuls, dissented from James and Fountain.

“How many of us have made a mistake in here?” asked Dunn. “I think all of these individuals offer something a little different to SGA.”

Dunn also stated that these potential senators could learn many skills from SGA, and given that they are underclassmen, they could lead the organization very strongly in the future.

Running counter to the other senators, Tori Baldwin showed sympathy for Taylor’s problem, but not for Marshall.

“I’ve been through that, and moving in one day is not easy,” Baldwin said. “I did it last semester, and I missed a meeting, so it’s understandable. I just feel  like (Marshall) didn’t really care that much because I heard her say ‘whatever’ six or seven times, so I just feel like that’s a little bit of a warning sign that she may be someone who just sits in the back and never talks.”

The other two hopefuls, Brittany Stokes and Jarrett Wilson, were elected easily. Stokes was voted in unanimously, while Wilson was voted in on a majority vote, with two voting against and three abstaining.

Wilson’s election comes in spite of not being at the meeting last week when he was supposed to be voted on as possible senator.

“I was actually very sick,” Wilson said. “I was ready to go, I had my speech ready and everything, but I couldn’t make it.”

Wilson is determined to do his best as an SGA senator.

“I will not miss any more meetings,” Wilson said. “Sick. Throwing