Krystal Geeson
Staff Writer
Over 1,100 votes were tallied during ASISU elections March 18 and 19 to determine ASISU’s new executive branch and senate. Kyle Son and Taylor Tingey were elected ASISU president and vice president, respectively.
The 2014-2015 academic year will be Son and Tingey’s first term as the executive branch of ASISU.
Son was a senator for the College of Business during the 2013-2014 school year, while Tingey was the finance officer.
The pair will be replacing Matt Bloxham, a two-term president who is running for the Idaho State Legislature, and Vice President Taylor Jensen.
“Idaho State University has been a part of my life for my entire life,” said Son. “I saw the opportunity to be put in the position where I feel I can do the most good for the school.”
“[I will] talk with the administration and with different leaders in the community and help these students on campus let their voices be heard,” he added.
In the future, Son hopes to see an increased amount of students making their voices heard through voting.
“I am disappointed in the voter turnout. At the end of the year that is going to be a big goal,” said Son. “What I would really like to see is more involvement across the board in all diverse organizations that we have around campus.”
Of students eligible to vote, only 9 percent did.
However, the races for senate positions were close across the board.
“This year we had competition in almost every college. That’s what our goal was: to have more candidates than seats available, so students can choose,” said Jameson Bastow, elections commissioner.
The election committee for the 2014-2015 election included Bastow, Haylee Humphries, Shelby Sharron and Patrick Hiltbrand, a 2013-2014 senator.
Tingey said he ran for election because he contributes as much as he can to the school, and this was his next opportunity.
“I am really excited to work with the new senate. As we work together and [become] unified, I feel that we can bring about necessary change to the university and enhance the good things we already are doing,” said Tingey.
The opportunity to become more involved is one that was a common reason to run for many of the newly-elected ASISU senators.
“I ran because I saw a huge communication breakdown between the students and their senators. I wanted to get more involved and this was a great way,” said newly-elected Senator for the College of Arts and Letters Mackenzie Smith.
Bea Valencia, a 2013-2014 senator, who was re-elected for the College of Education, said she ran again because her previous experience has given her a better understanding of what ASISU can do for the students it represents.
All elected senators, along with the Idaho Falls Vice President are listed below:
College of Arts and Letters: Mackenzie Smith, Kourtney McConnell, Daniel Shelden and Morgan Pitcock
College of Business: Kelly Kemmerer
College of Education: Katie Johnson and Bea Valencia
Graduate Studies: Anil Mandal and Kofi Saahene
Division of Health Sciences: Jordan Withers, Sam Perry, Danielle Moniak and Trisha Beukelman
College of Pharmacy: Kailyn Cleveland
College of Science and Engineering: Nabin Khanal, Adam Thayer and Kendra Knapp
College of Technology: Justin Underwood, Debbie Beckstead and Allen Ricks
Idaho Falls Vice President: Elise Hansen
