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On Thursday the student body at the University of Maine will hold elections to vote for the new positions in Student Senate. The two vice presidential candidates are Nyssa Gatcombe and Timothy Smith, who both flaunt experience and passion as their defining factors.
Nyssa Gatcombe
Gatcombe is running with a platform of previous experience and involvement.
“Vice president is kind of in charge of running meetings, all that fun and stuff. You have to be able to lead people because you’re in charge of all those 35 senators on track and schedule, making sure they’re doing their job,” Gatcombe said.
“I’m president of a couple of organizations, like the Student Alumni Association and all sorts of others. You also have to be able not to just lead, but also help people when they fall down or are struggling.”
If elected, Gatcombe plans to use the first month before taking office to figure out what procedures work as vice president and which do not.
“Well, we have a little over a month from when we’re elected to when we take office officially. So in that time I will be working closely with current Vice President Ross Wolland and trying to learn the ropes about what he’s doing. I’m friends with quite a few former vice presidents so I plan to sit down with them and be like, ‘What did you do that worked and didn’t work?’ See how exactly I want to run the meetings and how exactly I want to do everything,” Gatcombe said.
Twelve percent of students voted in the election last year. Gatcombe has a plan for raising that percentage.
“I think the best way to get students to vote is to run the best and [most] effective campaign as possible. I’ve been up here tabling and speaking to students. I’ve gone around to meetings, just trying to get out there and meet as many students as possible. The more students we as candidates meet and tell them to vote Nov. 12, the more likely they are to vote. I mean, there’s only so much we can do via Facebook or flyers and all that stuff,” Gatcombe said.
If not elected, Gatcombe plans to keep her current positions in the organizations she is involved with, as well as remain a senator.
“I’m at the moment considering whether I can do more good as a senator or putting all my effort into being president of Student Alumni Association. Currently I am doing both, and I feel like, though I am giving 110 percent to both, that if I wasn’t giving so much [to one] as compared to the other I would be excelling in the other,” Gatcombe said. I do know that if I win vice president I will be quitting senate, obviously, because you can’t be both.”
Timothy Smith
Smith stands on a platform of accessibility and passion.
“I’m accessible. I’m user-friendly to the average student, and I am passionate about representing their interests. I have things that are concrete, things that will happen if I am elected. I think this makes me distinct from any other candidate for vice president right now,” Smith said.
If Smith is elected, his first move would be to submit informative articles to The Maine Campus describing what is going on in senate to hopefully inform students of Student Government’s actions. He also plans to draft a pamphlet on using the rules of procedure to create quicker senate meetings through a stricter adherence to those rules.
“I would get started right away on the articles to prevent people from coming in and feeling like they can’t be [there] because of this strict procedure,” Smith said. “I would draft [them], with [help from the] membership committee, probably more informative pamphlet on how to use the rules of procedure. What will be used, what’s going to change from Ross’s Vice Presidency to my own if elected, and what they can expect.”
Smith feels getting the word out to students is the most important part of increasing student voting in SG elections.
“Twelve percent of people is just underwhelming. I mean, we really need more student participation, and I think the way we can do that is by putting information out there,” Smith said. “When I was tabling this past week, I took the time to talk to people. My favorite people to talk to about Student Government are people who do not like Student Government and who are so upset about it, because these are the people we need to get in touch with. I think the problem is that those who could be involved don’t have enough information and analysis about what is important about Student Government and what is going on.”
Smith also plans to stay involved if he isn’t elected by keeping his position as a senator.
Smith said if he’s not elected he “will keep working as policy and procedure [chairperson] because I really like policy and procedure. I love the way systems work. I love rules. I love making them work for certain people I like following discourse.”
UMaine students can vote through their FirstClass accounts.
