SayWhat?
After spending nearly seven months in office as your current student body vice-president, I can offer a unique perspective regarding the characteristics necessary to succeed in the roles of student body president (SBP) and student body vice-president (SBVP). As such, I am endorsing Jared Itkowitz and Pooja Godbole for SBP and SBVP.
Student government can — and does — have a powerful impact on Carnegie Mellon’s student body. For example, whether or not you were invested in last year’s elections for SBP and SBVP, Sean Weinstock and my time in office has led to positive changes on campus. There are now more power plugs in the library, a more effectively implemented Campus Rec program, and computers on the first floor of Hunt Library that feature Microsoft Word. Student body leaders’ impacts can be felt past just their times in office, too — next year, student organization leaders will be able to utilize our Institutional Memory tool in order to save important information and data that will help future leaders of the organization. Elected officials make changes that impact students’ everyday lives, and so it’s important to choose the right candidates for the student body.
Sean and I agree that our five point platform, along with other government bodies’ hard work this year, has brought our student government to what Jared Itkowitz, Student Senate chair and SBP candidate, calls “a tipping point.” But where do we go from here? How do we ensure that we don’t regress upon all of the progress that has been made?
In order to ensure this progression, the student body needs to elect an SBP and SBVP with a strong history of effective leadership and initiating positive change. We need to elect individuals that have a clear and distinct plan that highlight what they will do to unify and better the lives of their constituents from the minute they step into office. This plan must not include vague or indefinite promises, but rather, must provide a step-by-step plan to tackle the issues that come up throughout the year.
According to these tenets, I believe that the candidates best suited for the job of SBP and SBVP are junior business major Jared Itkowitz and sophomore business major Pooja Godbole. Their point-based platform, CMUnity (found at www.jaredandpooja.com), details specific information as to how they are going to attempt to improve students’ lives, promoting a confidence in voters that they know how to get the job done.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with both Jared and Pooja on committees such as the Student Government Executive Board, Student Government Visibility Committee (which Jared and I co-chaired), Mayur Executive Board, and Bhangra in the Burgh Executive Board, and have full confidence that they are equipped with the tools — and more importantly, the passion, patience, and mature sense of judgment — necessary to succeed in these roles. If you want to help shape your future, then take a few minutes to read Jared and Pooja’s platform, as well as that of their opponents, Dorian Adeyami and Alex Short (www.tartanpride.com), to learn about the candidates and make an informed decision on a matter that will definitely affect your future at Carnegie Mellon.
Student government executive elections started at 6 p.m. Sunday and continue through Tuesday, April 8 at 6 p.m. Cast your vote at stugov.andrew.cmu.edu/elections. For those of you who have not yet voted, I ask that you please consider my endorsement of Jared Itkowitz and Pooja Godbole for SBP and SBVP when you do so.
Adi Jain, CIT 2008
Student Body Vice-President