SGA presidential candidate unveils key points in policy ahead of election
President Charles Mahone and vice president Margaret Blackmer discuss graduate student representation with a member of the Student Government Association.
As the only candidate for Student Government Association president, Chesterfield senior Chuck Mahone is looking to address several student-related topics next year.
Voting takes place March 30 to April 3. Incumbent Mahone and Vice President Maggie Blackmer need 50 percent of the vote to begin working on next year's platform, which includes increasing study hours in the library and asking for larger desks.
Monday's SGA Presidential Press conference showcased the key concerns of Mahone and running mate Maggie Blackmer.
Their talking points included getting bigger classroom desks for plus-size students and making reserving rooms around campus easier for registered student organizations and SGA sponsored events.
Voting for the 2015 SGA Elections will begin on Monday March 30. Students can vote online at vote.cmich.edu. The website will be live until April 3.
Vice Presidential candidate Maggie Blackmer said the process is easy.
“You’ll have to sign in (to the website) with your Global ID and password,” Blackmer said. “(The ballot will have) a picture of myself and Chuck, a little bit about us and our platform, and then it will say either vote for us or vote no confidence, which is an option.”
Blackmer said that the same structure will apply when for treasurer.
“The elections committee (may) also be tabling with computers for people to vote,” Blackmer said. “But the only way for students to vote is on vote.cmich.edu.”
The winners of the election will be announced at a press conference, 5:30 p.m Monday, April 6 in the Bovee University Center Rotunda.
The desk issue, Blackmer said, addresses a need to accommodate students of "all shapes and sizes."
“We believe it is embarrassing, and plain absurd, that a student who may be bigger is unable to sit in those types of (small) desks and have to, unfortunately, sit in a handicapped seat in the classroom,” Blackmer said. “(The desks) need to be changed so that every single Chippewa can feel comfortable coming to class."
Along with that, Mahone pointed out that the size of the desktops compared to all that is placed on them in an average class period — books, notepads, laptops, and more — is widely disproportionate.
“(The size of the desks on campus) are absolutely ridiculous,” Mahone said. “We are a D1 institution; we can afford to get better desks.”
There was also interest expressed in keeping the Charles V. Park Library open 24 hours during finals week.
“Hopefully this will be the first step toward a 24-hour library," Blackmer said. "This is something that the dean of the library is very interested in and something we will be implementing (around) midterms of next semester.”
Troy freshman Michaela Smith said it was obvious Mahone and Blackmer truly cared about CMU and would put forth the effort necessary to lead SGA in the coming year.
“I think (Mahone and Blackmer) really look at what students say and (Mahone) really tries to be the voice of the students,” Smith said. “All of the projects (Mahone) said he would complete, he has.”
The press conference closed with individual statements from Mahone and Blackmer, thanking those in SGA for their service and urging students to contact them if they ever had any ideas for improving things around campus.
“The beauty about everything we have said tonight is that it comes from the student body,” Mahone said. “These (platform ideas) aren’t just things we thought up. If there’s something we haven’t heard about but you (students) think we should, let us know.”
