| John Barnes Student Body President Running for Second Term |
Mike Saathoff Student Body Vice President Running for Second Term News Editor |
| What have you been able to accomplish so far in SG? | Name 3 things UNF does well and 3 things it could improve on. |
| We revised Title 6 [elections] and Title 8 [finance] of the constitution and made immense progress on campus with athletic promotions and restoring Library hours, so it’s been a very productive year. |
Things we can improve on are parking, creating a legacy on campus – creating traditions through events – and sound. It hinders us from taking the university to another level and affects everything we do. Done well: Athletic director, having a new Student Union and really putting education on another level. We are not a research university but a teaching university. |
| Do you feel the school takes enough security measures to prevent a Virginia Tech-style shooting? How can we improve? |
How do you plan to set aside personal opinions in order to help better serve the student body? |
| Campus safety is something we really need to improve on. I believe UNF has made good strides like safety rangers and security guards, but we need to move forward and provide more rangers. I don’t think UNF is a bad place or that we have bad people here, but were located so close to highways. The outside is coming in, and we need to ensure students feel safe. | It’s really all about taking a back seat; knowing the position you’re in is time-consuming and requires dedication. When you are at a high position, you have to understand you are never doing this for yourself. If you’re steering with your own ambitions, it’s not going to be beneficial to the other 16,000 students. I feel that being in this position you’re really a steward. |
| If you were elected, how would you go about improving school spirit? |
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| It’s been an issue ever since I’ve been here, and the way you change that is with a change in mindset. Hiring a new athletic director was a huge step in that direction. As leaders, we have to get people excited about being Ospreys; we have to get students excited about getting involved. | A jazz instructor once told me, “If nothing changes, nothing changes.” Once students realize that, it’s OK to swoop in public and it’s something to be proud about. It starts with the little things and will grow into something amazing, and I think that’s what it will take. |
| How would you best describe yourself? |
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| Passionate. | Dedicated. |
Source: Election Forum; Compiled by Jonathan Morales.
