Gray

By James Stockton
Reporter

A runoff Tuesday will determine both the student body president and internal vice president elections.

Houston juniors Zach Rogers and Ben Aguinaga will continue to campaign for the office of student body president.

“I think it’s another opportunity to continue campaigning and to maintain votes and to also get more votes,” Rogers said.

He added that he plans on reassuring voters that he is the best candidate for the job.

Aguinaga echoed the same sentiment in his plans for the runoff.

“We’re obviously going to try to reach out to those who did vote and also those who didn’t,” Aguinaga said.

The office of internal vice president will also continue to be fought for as neither Falls City junior Michael Lyssy or Houston sophomore Brian Kim could secure a majority of the votes, with Lyssy garnering 41 percent of the vote and Kim receiving 30 percent.

“I think everyone did great in this race,” Kim said. “The next three days I’m really going to push hard.”

Kim wasn’t the only one who thought that all the candidates ran a good, clean race.

“I think it was a pretty clean election,” Lyssy said. “I hope that everyone turns out to vote on Tuesday.”

The only student body officer position filled yesterday was that of external vice president as Corpus Christi junior Angela Gray won with 79 percent of the vote.

In addition to the student body officers elections, each class, except the freshmen, voted for new class officers. The freshmen class elections are held in the fall.

Permanent class officers include Amber Como as president, Ashley Thomas as vice president and Jacob Voncannon as secretary-treasurer.

The new senior class president is Paul Warren. The senior senators include Alex Gray, Allison Temnick, Gabby Garrett, Shaun Wysong, Jake Lane, Daniel Cervera, Chandler Lucius and Randall Holoman.

Newly elected junior class president Briana Treadaway will be working with vice president Rafael Diaz. The junior senators are Blessing Amune, James Mai, Celeste Russell, Cody T. Orr, Nick Pokorny, Silvia Ogo Nweze, Miriam Hobma, George Parfet Bachman II, Greg Torres and Michelle Singleton.

Finally, the sophomore class elected Raechel Adams as its president. Working with Adams will be newly elected vice president Abby Scheller and secretary-treasurer Haley Davis. Sophomore class senators include Daniel Lin, Azeem Malik, Caitlyn Henckel, Lexington Holt, Thomas Damrow, Dresden Hasala-Shooks, Jacob Moran, Joshua Foster, Kirby Garrett, Paul Sclaudraff, Wesley Hodges and Ellie Garcia.

All Photos by Jed Dean | Lariat Photo Editor

By Sara Tirrito
Staff Writer

Campaign season has been largely unproblematic so far this year — with only one charge brought against a student government candidate — which some believe is a result of the recent revisions to the electoral code. The season will begin wrapping up today, with voting beginning at 8 a.m.

Voting will end at 5 p.m. Thursday, and the announcement of the new student government officers is slated for 9:45 p.m. at Diadeloso. Votes can be cast at baylor.edu/sg/vote.

Student Body President

In the race for student body president are Waxahachie junior Nate Larson, Baytown junior Cristina Galvan and Houston juniors Ben Aguinaga and Zach Rogers.

Nate Larson

Larson, a pre-med/university scholar major, is the junior class president and served last year as the sophomore class president.

He said he hopes to work on helping students and student organizations accomplish their goals and promote their student activities by “removing red tape” and improving efficiency.

“I’m trying to help everybody be better at what they care about and accomplish what they want to accomplish,” Larson said, “whether that be on an individual level or be at an organizational level.”

Larson said he wants to be hands-on and use his computer coding skills to improve the efficiency of student government.

“I feel like a lot of tasks can be automated and be made better through the use of computers and that’s why I feel like it’s important that I’m able to code computers,” Larson said. “I feel like you could automate a lot, like a lot of the red tape stuff; a lot of the processes can be automated easily online. Right now, they’re doing things manually that could easily be taken over by computers, so that’d be one way to go.”

Cristina Galvan

Galvan, a management and accounting double major, is the student body external vice president and has previously served as freshman and sophomore class senator.

Galvan’s goals include making sure students’ voices are taken into consideration during university planning, addressing affordability and improving both student safety and student government operations.

Allowing students’ voices to be heard is Galvan’s first priority, which she said she can help ensure through her position as the only student representative on the university’s strategic themes committee (a committee helping to determine the themes prevalent in community input for the university’s next strategic plan).

“I’ll be able to make sure that the student voice isn’t ignored or pushed aside throughout these talks and when we submit our report to the university,” Galvan said.

Galvan also said she hopes to help improve relations with alumni to encourage them to give to the university. Additionally, she wants to improve student government itself and make it more relevant to the student body.

“I really want to improve the operations within student government so that we’re really working together to effectively and efficiently serve students,” Galvan said, “just keeping lines of communication open.”

Ben Aguinaga

Aguinaga, a political science and philosophy double major, has been a senator for two years. He chaired the diversity committee and held a seat on the Senate executive council last year, and has also held a seat on the academic affairs committee.

Aguinaga ran for student body president in 2009-2010 but did not win the election. He therefore did not hold a position in student government this year, but joined other organizations such as Bear Pit and Sing Alliance, which he said have helped him understand “the average student’s” perspective of student government.”

“What I have to bring is a sense of fresh perspective to student government,” Aguinaga said. “After working there for two years, I recognize the dangers of becoming complacent within the organization.”

Aguinaga said he hopes to help student government flourish by getting students involved in discussions that go deeper than politics.

“The central theme of my efforts is to endeavor not to make it a campaign but a conversation; the theme is join the conversation,” Aguinaga said.

“When we can establish visibility as an organization and reliability as an organization, only then can students stock up and trust members of student government.”

In order to create that conversation, however, Aguinaga said changes must first be made in student government, such as spending more time with fellow members than their mandatory office hours.

“In my opinion that’s not enough time to get to know those who have been elected alongside you,” Aguinaga said.

“When you get to know people on a deeper level, that’s when you can learn to trust each other, and even within student government to build the relationship that we’re trying to build with students on campus.”

Zach Rogers

Rogers, an entrepreneurship and marketing double major, has served as freshman class president, a member of the cabinet of the external vice president his sophomore year and this year was a student representative for the judicial affairs committee.

Rogers’ platform includes both short-term and long-term goals. In the short term, he said he hopes to develop relationships with President Ken Starr, the university administration and the board of regents, “uphold the values of a servant leader” and increase the student government scholarship to $1,000. In the long term, he said he hopes to create a student representative seat on the board of regents.

In developing relationships with the administration, Rogers said he hopes to help “make student government a reputable source of information.”

“I want to be a transparent representative for student government to the administration,” Rogers said. “Being a transparent representative is me and the rest of student government polling the opinions of students and relaying messages between the administration and the students as best as I can.”

Through his platform, Rogers said he hopes to serve and honor the Lord.

“I feel like the Lord has called us to be servants, first and foremost to serve the Lord and then others,” Rogers said. “The reason why my platform is important to me is because it’s using the gifts and abilities the Lord has given me to lead others and to honor Him.”

Internal Vice President

Vying for the internal vice president position are current IVP Falls City junior Michael Lyssy, Houston sophomore Brian Kim and Fort Worth junior Daniel Houston.

Michael Lyssy

In addition to serving as IVP, Lyssy, an international studies major, has served as a senator for two years.

“There’s a huge learning curve, I think, with this position,” Lyssy said. “It requires not only a vision, but a knowledge before you can begin, so I think already having that is a great asset and I can hit the ground running.”

Lyssy also said he believes the relationships he has built with administrators will be a “great asset for this position.”

Lyssy said he hopes to help bring about a cultural change in Senate so that time in meetings can be used more efficiently, build a closer relationship with the administration and also address the issue of affordability.

“I’m very in touch with students and not afraid to advocate for student concerns,” Lyssy said. “I know that the biggest concern that students have … is tuition and the cost of attending Baylor, so I’m very committed to working with Judge Starr and those involved with the scholarship committee to make sure we continue to recruit funds for that and we see the effects of those for the students as soon as possible.”

Brian Kim

Kim, a political science major, has served in Student Senate for two years and is the public relations chair for Senate and the branding coordinator for student government.

“Serving the students has always been a passion,” Kim said. “I knew I wanted to be in student government the day I came to Baylor, and I ran as a freshman, I ran as a sophomore and I want to continue serving my peers as next year’s IVP.”

Kim said he hopes to look in-depth at student concerns such as parking, safety on and off campus and fair distribution of student generated allocation funds.

Kim said he also wants to see stronger leadership and better communication in student government.

“I want to change the attitude and harmony of student government,” Kim said. “I want to reunite student government to more effectively work toward our goals as an organization in a positive way, and lastly I want to see strong leadership with active guidance for the newest members.”

Daniel Houston

Houston, a political science and philosophy double major who is planning to swap out philosophy for journalism, is president pro tempore of Student Senate, chair of the operations and procedures committee and vice chair of the Senate executive council. Last year he served as chair of the community affairs committee.

“Serving as the operations and procedures committee chair, I have worked with our student body documents in a manner that has allowed me to improve the procedures by which Senate operates,” Houston said. “I would like to set a clear set of expectations for the Senate leadership, the committee chairs and the senators, and to do so requires implementing new systems and procedures for achieving the goals that the students would like to see.”

Houston said he hopes to see Senate become more active in working with university administrators, something he believes he has demonstrated in the past by speaking with administrators as he created a proposal to lower the price of parking decals for the East Campus Parking Facility.

“What we would like to actually see is a Senate that is active when it comes to voicing student concerns but isn’t just making statements on behalf of students, isn’t just sending pieces of paper to administrators, but is actually working with the administration to accomplish the goals that students would like to see us accomplish,” Houston said. “I have a clear record of working with the administration to actually implement solutions on behalf of students.”

Houston also said he hopes to address the inefficiencies of meal plans, continue addressing the issue of parking and also to set clearer goals for the Senate.

“The leadership has not had a clear set of goals and priorities coming into any session of which I have been a member; we rely on individual senators to work on issues that are important to them and their constituents, but these individual senators cannot do it all on their own,” Houston said, “and that is why, if I am elected, I will work to coordinate the activities of our committees to make sure that issues important to students do not fall through the cracks.”

External Vice President

Contenders for the external vice president race are Cypress junior Alex Baqui and Corpus Christi junior Angela Gray.

Alex Baqui

Baqui, a biology major, has been a member of the public relations committee for two semesters.

He said he believes his experience in leadership positions in other student organizations will help him as EVP.

“Characteristics that I’ve developed through my experience as a student leader I’d like to apply through the position as EVP because I believe I can expand the office of the EVP to better the students and our community,” Baqui said.

Baqui said he also enjoys coming up with ideas and seeing them put into action, which he expects will be another strength if he is elected.

“I always like to take an idea and form that into a tangible project or outcome,” Baqui said, “so I think that is also a strength that I will apply to the position of external vice president.”

Baqui said he hopes to continue the projects of former EVPs, and also to create a weekly local community service program for students and student organizations and increase communications between those groups about existing service projects.

“My platform, in general, does target students and student organizations mainly,” Baqui said, “but I will also devote much of my time to work with alumni relations and communicating with the Big 12 Conference.”

Angela Gray

Gray, a bioinformatics and pre-law major, chairs the campus improvements committee, is a student representative to the all-university teaching, learning and technology committee and sits on the board of directors of the Baylor Alumni Association. She has also been a senator for three years, chaired the public relations committee and has been a member of the communications committee.

Gray said she believes her work in student government at Baylor and her participation in discussions with student governments at other universities have given her a greater perspective on the organization.

“I have a bigger vision and perspective of how student government can work and serve students,” Gray said.

Gray said she hopes to continue community service sponsored by student government, to represent the student voice to alumni, the Waco community and local and state governments and to increase communication between the organization and the student body “so that we can properly identify concrete concerns that students have.”

“I feel like my goals for the year embody what an EVP should do with students and out in the community, taking student concerns beyond just Baylor,” Gray said.

Gray also said she hopes to improve the university’s bus routes and expand them to serve students who need transportation to the new School of Social Work downtown. Additionally, she wants to help create reconciliation with alumni so that they will feel better about donating to the university.

“I’d like to use my relationship with the administration and alumni to help re-facilitate relations there,” Gray said. “Students feel like we’re losing a lot of funding for student scholarships because of the disconnect with alumni.”

Unfortunately, I had already committed myself two months ago to another event on the night of April 7. After much consideration, I felt that a student body president’s mission must be to hold true to his word and to the service of the students of Baylor University, and, as a candidate for this position, I chose to act pursuant of this belief.

I look forward to the conversations with my peers and my friends that will occur over the next few days: conversations that will not cease once elections are over, but rather will continue and grow. Join the conversation.

— Ben Aguinaga
Junior, student body president candidate

Student Body President

Cristina Galvan “I want to continue to ensure that the student voice is heard and acknowledged and listened to and working to make Baylor more affordable for students.”

Zach Rogers “The Lord has given me a passion to serve and with this passion, I want to use this passion for students for I believe that I am a servant leader.”

Nate Larson “I want to help students and student organizations accomplish the goals that they want to accomplish, focus on things that they care about.”

Ben Aguinaga, who has filed to run for student body president, did not attend

Internal Vice President

Brian Kim “I want [to] increase the number of propositions we write as a senate, secondly I would like to see stronger leadership as a stronger IVP and, lastly, equally and fairly distributing the Student Government Allocation Fund.”

Michael Lyssy “I know how senate works, I’ve been a senator, I have experience I’ve Been IVP and I believe the connections that I have made as a SBO will really help this position next year.”

Daniel Houston “I am willing to work with students and provide a Senate that functions effectively enough that when a student comes before us with a concern and says ‘This is where we want to see student government in the next 10 years’ then we’re going to be open to actually be receptive to that.”

External Vice President

Alex Baqui “I would like to develop a weekly consistent community outreach program in Waco, in which every week student organizations and students could get involved in a weekly program.”

Angela Gray “I would like to reestablish connections at the state and federal legislators, establishing more connections outside of Baylor administrators.”

It has come to my attention that there is much that needs to be said about these elections as the paper’s ethical standards we follow require special handling of this year’s elections.

Student body president candidates that have officially filed to run include: Cristina Galvan, the current external vice president, Ben Aguinaga, Zach Rogers, Nate Larsen and Whitney Desmond.

Cristina Galvan is the older sister of the Lariat’s assistant city editor Carmen Galvan. This familial connection presents inherent conflicts of interest.

First, I in no way intend to place Carmen in the place of judging her sister against the other candidate.

I have asked Carmen to sit out on the interview of presidential candidates and editorial writing process the Lariat will conduct in the coming weeks.

Carmen will not be partaking in these interviews in order to maintain a fair interview environment for both Cristina and the other candidates and to ensure the editorial board’s vote is ethically sound.

We will vote for the candidate each board member thinks will provide the best future for this university.

Fairness, accuracy and constructive reasoning will be used in this process — all tools I know Carmen uses throughout her journalism endeavors. This situation, however, calls for her complete removal in order to quell any concerns.

Carmen will be involved in the interview and endorsement process of the external and internal vice president candidates because there are no conflicts of interest that lead me to believe she could not more than aptly fulfill her role as a member of the editorial board.

The second situation I have dealt with is that of the internal vice president candidates.

The current internal vice president, Michael Lyssy, is rerunning for the position along with junior Daniel Houston and Brian Kim, the current PR chair for student government.

My concern deals only with Houston because he is a reporter for the Lariat this semester.

I have talked with Houston about his plans to run for the position and I find no ethical reason as to why he can’t continue to maintain his reporter capacity for this paper and run a campaign for the IVP position.

Houston covers Central Texas politics for the Lariat along with other pieces of news as needed.

He has not and will not, however, be involved in any student government coverage for the Lariat.

His interview will be conducted in the same capacity as the other IVP candidates and no preferential treatment will be given throughout our process.

If Houston should win the endorsement of this paper — a decision yet to even be discussed by the editorial board, seeing as interviews have not been conducted — it will be only because the board found him to be the best option for this university.

My intent with these decisions is to clear the air as campaign season begins and to ensure the Lariat maintains its commitment to ethical journalism.

I wish nothing but good luck to all the candidates.

— Nick Dean
Editor in chief

Zoo Studio, a band on Baylor’s Uproar Record label, launched its pre-order website for its “The Black and White” EP Monday.

Zoo Studio includes Tulsa senior Max Helmerich on lead vocals and piano, Carroll senior John Steen on guitar and Pearland senior Ben Aguinaga on drums.

Uproar is looking to further the career potential of its artists by now producing full EPs for its bands, Uproar Records president Taylor Ashcraft, a senior from Humble, said.

“This year is the first year for us to release any EPs. The reason we are doing this now is because we want to give bands the tools that they need for when they graduate,” Ashcraft said.

“They will be able to take their careers to the next level with an EP.”

Ashcraft said he is excited for the EP release and that Zoo Studio fits in well with the Uproar family.

“They have a lot of personality and appeal., Ashcraft said. “We saw that and thought we could do a lot with them. They are fun and produce good quality, clean and upbeat music.”

Helmerich said the band is stretching its sound and exploring other types of music with “The Black and White.”

“The album is going to be a lot more of alternative rock, but it also is dipping into an indie style as well,” Heimrich said.

“It is our first solo deal without being incorporated into something with other bands.”

The band’s manager, Winfield., Ill. senior Tyler Michel, said working with Zoo Studio has shown him the progression of the band’s talent and creativity.

“The album is going to be a lot different from what people are expecting. … It is definitely something that people are going to want to buy,” Michel said.

Michel said the title of the album, “The Black and White,” represents the complexity of life and the idea that much of life lands in the gray area— neither black nor white.

“The things that are sometimes the most elegant are clear and simple, black and white.” Michel said. “We are trying to convey this idea through the album, with simple songs and even into the release party.”

The band, along with two opening acts — Sunday Lane and Ty Mayfield — will perform at the album’s release party, from 7 to 10 p.m. April 5 at the Bill Daniel Student Center.

“Sunday Lane is a feel-good poppy sound,” Helmerich said, “but she has tracks that bring an indie side to her music as well …and Ty Mayfield is a piano-pop, rock kid from Dallas.”

A digital copy of the band’s new album can be ordered at the website www.uproarrecords.com/preorder/.

The band has made a variety of packages available that include stickers, T-shirts, a home-cooked dinner by the band or a booking with them.

“We wanted to put something funny up on the website to order, but surprisingly someone already ordered the dinner package. I guess we will have to learn how to cook soon,” Helmerich said. “I don’t think that person will want $100 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”