The names of the students vying to take the reins of the Student Association are out, and the candidates will have exactly one week to persuade students they’re right for the job.

The candidates for SA president and comptroller held their first public appearance Monday in the Schine Student Center atrium. The candidates for comptroller, assistant comptroller Maggie Misztal, a sophomore marketing and public relations major, and Rosslyn Ortega, a sophomore marketing major, took questions from students, who also questioned Parliamentarian Drew Lederman, a sophomore international relations and history major, the sole candidate for president.

The candidates will square off in a debate at 7:30 p.m. today in Room 114 of the Hall of Languages. Since Lederman is running unopposed, he will have another chance to take questions from students, said Andrew Thomson, SA president. Misztal and Ortega will also be available for questions from both students and the Board of Elections and Membership chairwoman Jessica Cordova, a junior education major.

Lederman said while he feels bad about running unopposed, he believes the lack of a challenger might be a sign of student support for the current SA leadership. Candidates in previous elections had run campaigns attacking the incumbents, he said. Lederman added that he plans to continue much of the work Thomson began.

‘I’m not about changing things,’ he said. ‘I’m about continuing them.’

Misztal said she also plans to continue work begun in the past two semesters. She was instrumental in creating the new liaison system, which pairs up finance board members with student organizations to answer questions about the budget process.

‘I want to make it grow,’ she said. ‘It was more or less being test-marketed this semester.’

Misztal also hopes to continue simplifying the budget process and enhancing cooperation between student organizations in planning activities. One thing she won’t be facing is the $1.5 million deficit Comptroller Erin Maghran had to grapple with in her first few semesters, or the cuts in funding to student organizations that resulted from it. Because of this, she can foster goodwill between the organizations and the financial arm of the SA.

Ortega is no stranger to SA finances, either. She has served on the finance board since the beginning of her freshman year. Currently, she acts as a liaison to several greek organizations. She feels that strong leadership and open communication with student organizations is essential in setting SA’s fiscal course and that her strength in those areas will give her an edge over Misztal.

‘You may have the experience, but are you willing to communicate with the organizations?’ she said.

Tonight’s debate will be the candidates’ last appearance before the polls open Monday. Cordova said the Board of Elections and Membership has taken measures to prevent last year’s failures of the online voting system, including requiring two SA officials to be present when accessing the system. SA members are also discussing the possibility of including State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students in the online voting.

Published on October 27, 2003 at 12:00 pm