Students elect leaders for next fall

4/24/08

By Keith Whitcomb Jr.
Critic Editor

Andrew Chapin has been elected Student Government Association president for the fall 2008 semester. Tim Cappalli won the vice presidency, Nathan Carter was elected secretary, and Liane Carson is now the treasurer.

Each candidate ran unopposed.

While there were many write-in candidates for the various executive board positions, only Christopher Arsenault gained a significant amount of write-in votes for the presidency with 43 votes to Chapin’s 135.

The highest amount of votes out of all the candidates was secretary Nathan Carter with 177 votes.

Last Monday an open forum was held in the Student Center, moderated by Brian Shaw. Three LSC students, including current SGA president Jon Maciel and one member of The Critic attended.

The voter turnout for the SGA executive board elections was better this year than normal, Kate Murphy, SGA adviser, said. Nearly 200 votes in total were cast.

Andrew Chapin, on ballot for SGA president, has yet to accept presidency.
Chapin has spent on year as the First-Year Senator sitting in at House meetings. At his high school in Southbury Connecticut, he was vice president of his class throughout his four years there.

One of the goals Chapin has for his term is bringing the SGA back into prominence. Regular town meeting style forums for students to attend and discuss issues is one of the ideas he and the other potential SGA executives have discussed.

Tim Cappalli, SGA vice president for 2009.
Cappalli has been sitting as House Representative for LSNPA since September. Aside from the regular open forums, Cappalli would like to require House Representatives and Senators to bring two student issues to each House meeting. While that idea still needs work, Cappalli is certain that he would like House meetings to run smoother and more efficiently.

“If they’re long just because people are arguing, then that’s a problem,” Cappalli said.

Nathan Carter, SGA secretary for 2009.
Carter helped out the Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Prevention Tools (ADAPT) program in his high school by typing memos and keeping records for his four years there. For three years, he helped with ADAPT’s Web site and enjoys keeping blogs of his own.

Carter would like to see easier online forum use for LSC students. He feels that the forums on Blackboard aren’t easy enough to use and are underutilized because of that.

Carter wants to increase the LSC student body’s awareness of the SGA, as many students don’t know what it is or what it can do.