Bowdoin students will go to the polls next week to elect a slate of Student Government officers for the 2005-2006 school year. The election will be held Wednesday and Thursday and students will vote online.
The election comes near the end of a year in which many described BSG as still in a transition period following the introduction of a new constitution at the end of the 2001-2002 academic year.
Two rising juniors, DeRay Mckesson and Derrick Wong, are candidates for BSG President. McKesson is currently Vice President for BSG Affairs and Wong currently serves as V.P. for Facilities.
There are seven candidates for the five vice-presidential positions and three candidates for the Treasurer position.
William Donahue '08 and Ted Lyons '06 are vying for the V.P. for Facilities. Carolyn Chu '07 will square off against Katerina Papacosma '08 in the election for V.P. for Student Affairs, while Joshua Cippel '08, Gardiner Holland '06, and Joe Brazzi '06 are competing for the Treasurer position.
Several candidates are running unopposed for a position?Dustin Brooks '08 for V.P. of Student Government Affairs, Shrindi Mani '06 for V.P. of Academic Affairs, and Molly Dorkey '06 for V.P. of Student Organizations.
Mckesson and Wong sat down for wide-ranging interviews with members of the Orient's senior editorial staff this week.
In the interviews, both candidates acknowledged that BSG has a communication problem, and said that they would like to work more closely to monitor changes in the College's academic program.
Wong said he viewed the Presidential role as an opportunity to improve campus life. "Although people don't always see what we do, I just like to give back and I feel like that role is a good way to improve the school and address the ideas that might not otherwise be realized," he said.
Mckesson cited his "extensive record of leadership" on campus. "I have a lot of experience in being involved in communities and being in teams," he said.
The two candidates differed somewhat in their assessments of BSG during the current academic year.
Mckesson is basing his campaign on a "transition to stability."
"We need to start making that shift from transition to stability in a very active and a very real way," he said. For too long, Mckesson argued, BSG has been caught up in transitioning into the system created by the 2002 constitution. "We have to get to the point where the student government can function as an organization," he said.
Wong presented a more positive view of BSG's year. He said the core group of officers "rose to the occasion" and "brought about programming for the school that was quite possibly better than when [BSG] was first formed."
Both candidates emphasized that they would like to see improvement in communications between BSG and academic officials, specifically the Recording Committee. Mckesson proposed increasing the frequency of BSG officer meetings and Wong hoped to have more direct contact with the chair of the Recording Committee.
Mckesson and Wong both hope to improve BSG's communication with the student body.
Wong wants to do a better job publicizing BSG meetings, including the possibility of airing all or parts of the meetings on BCN. He also expressed a hope for an expanded BSG presence in the pages of the Orient.
"People should know that we're here, open to your ideas, open to anything that you have to say. No idea is too simple, no idea will be overlooked," Wong said. He cited his efforts to extend the hours of the Watson Fitness Center as an example of his success in responding to and representing student opinion.
Along with BCN and Orient coverage, Mckesson proposed "semesterly reports" to keep the student body informed on BSG's proceedings. He cautioned, however, that the organization must first "understand its identity" before expecting other students to play an active role.
Both candidates expressed a willingness to remain open to the ideas of all members of BSG, a body that can often have officers and representatives with differing goals and viewpoints.
"Everything is about dialogue," Wong said. "If we properly discuss everything through, we will find a common goal."
Mckesson emphasized "shared leadership," which he described as the idea that "we're all in this together and that we all contribute to this team in an equal way," referring to BSG members and officers.
Wong and Mckesson both have groups on thefacebook.com supporting their candidacies. While not a scientific representation of support for each candidate, as of press time 47 had joined Wong's group and 68 had joined Mckesson's.
-Interviews by the Orient's James D. Baumberger and Bobby Guerette.