Above photo: Kaeden Kelso (right), is running unopposed for student body president with running mate Ysatis Jordan (left). Their campaign slogan is “commitment you can count on: there’s strength in unity, and with unity we take action.” Courtesy of Ysatis Jordan
By Whitney Elfstrom and Jonah Hinebaugh
When students begin voting today in the Student Government spring election, they will encounter a slender ballot and a history of voter apathy.
Only one presidential candidate is on the ballot — Daniel “Kaeden” Kelso and running mate Ysatis Jordan. They will be elected if a simple majority of voters endorse their ticket.
The other presidential ticket — Mariah McQueen and Samantha Fiore — was disqualified earlier this month for violating SG rules on collecting signatures for their campaign.
Also on the ballot are seven candidates, only one of whom is running for re-election, for the 30-member senate.
In recent years, voter turnout in SG elections has been poor. Last spring only 650 of the campus’ 4,475 students voted.
But the students who gain office hold sway over a big budget and a number of important student groups and activities.
Atop their duties is the annual $3.3 million budget that is generated by students’ activities and service fees. A little over half of that goes to help fund the University Student Center, but the rest is appropriated by Student Government to student organizations, programs and student life salaries.
The student body president, who makes a $10,687 salary under the 2017-2018 budget, and the vice president, who makes $8,700, hold powerful positions at USF St. Petersburg and play a vital part in student operations.
The president represents the student body before the faculty, administration and Campus Board of Trustees. The president is also responsible for appointing the executive cabinet and the supreme court.
Once elected, the senators join one of four committees: appropriations, policy, special funding or university and committee affairs. The senate president makes $7,290 and the senate pro tempore makes $5,467. The other senators are unpaid.
Kelso and Jordan are running on a platform centered around student success and university enhancement.
Kelso, a junior, said he fell in love with the university at an early age because his father Kent Kelso was once the regional vice chancellor for student affairs here.
He was born in Texas, but moved around as a child – living in Florida three separate times as well as Kentucky and Indiana. The political science major said he wants to leave USF St. Petersburg a better university.
Jordan, a junior, was born in San Diego but raised in Kissimmee in central Florida. She said she knew she wanted to run for president or vice president as soon as she arrived at the university.
She said she and Kelso are a good choice because they know the inner workings of campus and student government.
Kelso is the senate special funding chair and Jordan is the senate pro tempore.
Together they hope to be the voice of the student body and to engage with students on a personal level.
“I want to make sure we focus more on the students than we did in the past because those are the people who elected us and those we represent,” Jordan said.
They see their lack of opposition as a sign it was meant to be.
“It’s like my mother always told me, ‘For every choice you make you will either reap the benefit or have to face the consequences of your actions,’” Kelso said.
Kelso attended a campus town hall meeting Thursday that was marked by the apathy that has dogged student elections in recent years. Jordan was unavailable to attend because of a commitment with the Student Leadership Institute.
About 20 students attended. Seven were candidates, two were members of SG and three are on The Crow’s Nest staff.
Two senate candidates stepped down before the election — Albert Moreno, the former SG appropriations chair, and Thomas Ryan, an SG associate justice, who wishes to remain on the supreme court.
Student body president David Thompson and Shannon Scanlon, the SG supervisor of elections, led the candidates through a series of questions regarding how USF St. Petersburg has affected and what they hope see change in SG.
Mary Jacobson, a junior senate candidate, said that if she is elected she hopes to see more civic engagement from the student body. This hope was echoed by Tiffany Porcelli, incumbent SG senator.
Porcelli said that SG could do a better job informing students of when and where its meetings are held.
“I personally feel like it’s not public knowledge. I’ve talked to a lot of (students) and told them the opportunity to come in and express their concerns and they said, ‘Oh I didn’t know any of your meetings were public,’ and they’re all open door policy,” she said. “So I feel Student Government could have marketed better to let (students) know their options.”
But why is it so important that students are tuned into what is happening at SG meetings?
The executive, legislative and judicial branches are responsible for being the voice of the student body and in order for them to represent students they need to be aware of student concerns.
“This campus shouldn’t (think negatively about SG). We’re all students, it’s not like we’re a federal government and we’re way up here, like we’re all on the same playing field,” said Jacobson. “Student Government is here to help the school — to help us.”
Considering the amount of money they control and the power they wield on campus the questions asked to senators were surprisingly tame. The questions focused on what brought the candidates to the university and what their most significant academic experience has been.
The questions brought answers that sang praises for the university’s small class sizes and the beauty of the waterfront campus.
The presidential questions were more hard hitting and focused on transparency — one of Kelso and Jordan’s platform values — sustainability and collaborating with fellow student organizations.
Kelso said that he hopes to focus on getting more students involved in both SG elections and other student organizations through student partnerships. He also stressed the importance of advocating for students on issues like the proposed consolidation of the three USF campus’.
Though seven of the seven senate candidates haven’t held office before, they seem confident in their ability to bring positive change.
To learn about the seven senate candidates, click here: https://crowsneststpete.com/2018/02/26/meet-the-senate-candidates-2/.
It might be more likely that low turnout and unopposed candidates for student president/vice president indicates the lack of desire in the student body to have a student government. Do we really need SG? Would the $30k or so in salaries be better spent on other things? How in the world did we get to the point of paying for these positions?