SGA president election begins Wednesday

Students can log on to myLeo to vote in the A&M-Commerce Student Government Association (SGA) elections Wednesday, April 21.

All three candidates for president currently serve on SGA: Adam Sparks Jr., secretary; Leonard Jackson, treasurer; and Taylor Fore, parliamentarian.

A radio television major, Sparks wants to improve multimedia outreach to make SGA a more visible and student-friendly entity.

"I see us lacking in multimedia services," he said. "Our Web page is kind of hard to get to. I couldn't find our Web page, which is located on the TAMU Web site, for the longest time. We need our own Web page, and we need to create our own student forum where, if a student has a problem, they can e-mail us or post it on some kind of Web page."

Sparks said he thinks SGA needs to concentrate more on students' needs.

"I want to basically make sure that we keep our focus on the students, and not focus as much on our organization," he said. "We are an organization basically by the students and for the students."

Sparks has a YouTube video called "Spark the Vote."

Junior kinesiology major Fore decided to run for president after attending the National Conference on Student Leadership.

"When I got started attending workshops and really started growing more as a personal leader, I decided that I needed to take advantage of the leadership qualities I have and use that to lead this organization," he said.

Fore wants students to become more familiar with the purpose and functions of SGA.

"As everyone knows, student government is supposed to be the voice of the students," he said, "but as of right now, a lot of students are uneducated in what student government is and what they do."

Fore sees room for improvement in SGA's work.

"There are a lot of things that I think student government is doing well, but I think there are a lot of things we need to improve on," he said.

Jackson, a senior, is running for president because he thinks changes need to be implemented.

"I feel like student government is a vision that needs to be worked on," he said. "I have a vision for the campus, and I feel like serving as president will help me fulfill it."

There are specific changes Jackson would like to see materialize.

"I want to see more campus involvement in athletics," he said. " I also want to see an increase in student life. We need more events like Mardi Gras, a fun and safe activity that students can get involved with."

Jackson also wants students to learn about the benefits SGA has to offer.

"I want to make SGA more effective and efficient for the student body, bringing in senators that bring a good quality to this campus," he said. "It is very important for me to increase students' awareness about SGA, to get our name out there so students know that we can help them."

Jackson thinks education will increase student participation.

"I think it is important to understand that you can't make everyone do something," he said, "but what you can do is give students an opportunity by educating them."