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Clarke, David, Me, Rhys, and Jace
Lauren, Samantha, Jaclyn and Lauren |
Part I (St. George, UT)
I love spending time with the family and I love the warm weather in St. George. I was excited to go on a morning hike with my sister Talia and her boyfriend Zac around Red Cliffs State Park (near Hurricane). We took the wrong trail-- next time we need to look at a map-- but we had a good time. The next day, my dad took us to see a part of the Grand Canyon. Not the visitors center (where most people visit), but it's called Tuweep (or Toroweep). It was a lot of fun to go hiking. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere, but it was great to lie on my belly and peer over the edge!
Part II (Solana Beach, CA)
My roommate David took us to Southern California where we stayed in his parent's beach house. We played near the beach a lot (though I was the only one who actually went swimming... I couldn't
not go all the way in) and chilled next to the pool. The last night there, we built a fire on the beach and made s'mores.
Part III (Las Vegas, NV)
Samantha's family was very generous. The Niemands cooked cabbage, corned beef, and potatoes to celebrate St. Patty's day. We ended the night by hanging out on the strip.
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| Spring Break Crew in Solana Beach, CA |
I'm on a bull.
This fall, I went with some student leaders and student services administration to the various USU Regional Campuses (Tooele, SLC, Brigham City, and Uintah Basin). The bull is similar to one in Logan, the "Meet the Challenge Bull", so we felt the need to christen the Uintah Basin bull.
ASUSU Elections closed final voting today, and I'm getting ready for the Volunteer Appreciation Party and the Announcement. This week has been one that I hope not to forget. It has been one of the busiest and most stressful, but I have seen some of the most amazing things. I am blessed with great friends and family.
I am unopposed for Academic Senate President which is both a blessing and a curse. Right now, I sit comfortably knowing that I am next year's Academic Senate President. I found it difficult to remain motivated to campaign and hand out fliers.
I appreciate the words of my good friend Jeremy Nef, who said, "#2blessed2Bstressed". That tweet changed my week. I found myself having more energy to talk to students about my goals and platform. That sounds silly, right? However, I saw his tweet after I had spent about 30 minutes ranting about how half of my life was falling apart. The moment I logged into Twitter and saw that, I decided to change my attitude.
I would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped me on my campaign. Thanks to all of the elections volunteers, Kirsten Frank (the Elections Chair) and the advisors who help run the show.
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| Qualifications listed by all of the 2012-13 ASUSU Candidates |
As part 3 of my blogging of ASUSU Elections, I am looking at the qualifications listed for ASUSU Candidates. I decided to look for common themes in qualifications. I examined every 'qualification' a candidate listed and categorized them.
Most candidates listed at least one experience, most mentioned many, with different committees. I believe this is the best way to learn about the operations of the University. In general, committee work enables students to network, think about issues, and work for a solution. However, many times committees are the most superficial ways to be involved. I've sat on enough boards to know titles aren't always correlated with accomplishment. The second most common category was work experience and internships. Between the two, most candidates' qualifications are a list of their titles.
Titles are important-- titles have and continue to motivate me, they provide me a feeling of accomplishment, and the provide me a way to easily explain my role in the organization. However, I think we should look critically at the titles and ensure the feelings of accomplishment are met with actual accomplishment.
If you're interested in running for ASUSU Office in the future, I would encourage you to meet up with the officer and help with their council. It will give you a better understanding of the position.
--"Ambassador / A-Team" includes college ambassadors and "other" ambassadors.
--Greek is artificially low and may look as though Greeks don't make up much of the candidate pool. I think they make up about 20%. However, I'm counting every listed qualification. Most Greeks listed it only once and so it was included only once. However, many candidates listed multiple council positions (each council was counted individually). Every bullet on the site was categorized once. If there was a 'list' of clubs they were involved in, it was counted as one. I wasn't using a perfect method.
--This blog and the contents herein are not affiliated with ASUSU or ASUSU Elections.
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The candidate with the fewest friends
had 446, the most had 2208. |
I'm interested to see how social media plays a role in this year's ASUSU Elections. I think it has been important for several years, but I think students are more organized now than ever online. This is the first year we've had an "Incoming Class of 2011" Facebook group. The group has about 1000 members. Twitter has exploded this year. I see new Aggies on Twitter all the time.
Beyond actual campaigning, student leaders are utilizing social media more now than ever. I use it frequently to discuss issues facing students. I'll post updates about meetings I'm attending to garner feedback about an idea. This year's programming board bought Facebook ads to advertise for The Howl.
- 5 candidates have a goal to better use social media.
Note--
I couldn't find two candidates on Facebook. Only Executive Council candidates were included. Data pulled on 2/21/2012. This blog and the statements herein are not affiliated with ASUSU or ASUSU Elections.
