Last week saw the Thunderbird students making one of the important choices they’ve made this trimester. No, it wasn’t what classes to take next semester, or which GOGOS party to go to or where to spend their winter break – it was to choose the voices that would represent them and their concerns to the administration, faculty and staff of the school. They were voting to pick their Spring 2014 Thunderbird Student Government President and Vice-President!
The Spring 2014 TSG leadership election was not as hotly contested as the previous one that took place in the hot Arizona summer. While the Fall TSG leadership elections saw 3 people vying for President and 2 competing for Vice-President, the election for the Spring leadership only had 1 uncontested candidate for President and 3 candidates for Vice-President. The Election Committee, advised by the current Vice-President and Torrey Mann, consisted of Shushank Bhandarkar, Shani Bird, Richard Dennis, Umair Karim & Nicole Mueller who were in charge of making sure none of the candidates were found to be using flagrant tactics or violating campaign rules. In this election, the candidates were:
Courtesy: My Thunderbird
President: Nikhil Purwaha (uncontested)
Vice-President: Santiago “Iron Man” Peralta, Kyle Hutchin and Ameya A
The elections were held online, beginning on Friday, November 15, 2014 at 1:00 pm and concluded on Wednesday, November 20, 2014 at 8:00 am, with the results being released shortly thereafter. Congratulations go out to Nikhil Purwaha and Santiago Peralta for being voted in as the TSG President and Vice-President, respectively, for the Spring 2014 trimester!
On the flip side, the voting results revealed that only 241 students took part in voting in these elections, which only about 45% of the current student population. Looking at the feedback from our previous article (Your Opinion: The TSG), it was apparent that students want to be more involved in decisions that affect them whilst at Thunderbird. Being more active in voting for the TSG leadership plays a large role in making sure students’ voices are heard at Thunderbird. Another great way to be involved is to be a student chair on the TSG. Applications for TSG chair have now been extended to Tuesday, November 26 2013. So if you feel like making an impact on schools and student issues, make sure to pick up an application, fill it up and submit it by 1:00 p.m. this Tuesday at the TSG Office. Worried that being off campus on an internship/overseas program won’t let you make the deadline? E-mail the application, along with a copy of your resume, to torrey.mann@thunderbird.edu, who will obtain the required signatures. Make your voice count!