As campus-wide elections begin Wednesday, Student Government executive alliance candidates hope to appeal to voters through experience, relatability, creativity and humor.

Students can vote online at utexasvote.org from 8 a.m. Wednesday until 5 p.m. Thursday. 

The candidates for executive alliance are Horacio Villarreal and Michael Ugeo Williams; Ryan Shingledecker and Maddie Fogel; Connie Tao and Ryan Upchurch; and Chris Gilman and Alison Stoos.

History senior Villarreal and Williams, a sociology and education senior, said their experience in various organizations on campus, including Student Government, makes them well-rounded candidates. Villarreal serves as a University-wide representative and Williams is a College of Education representative.

“Horacio and I want to market Student Government to be an open space for students to explore and solve issues that are affecting and effecting students here at the University,” Williams said. “We have emphasized the importance of student voices and plan to implement this throughout our term if elected.”

Shingledecker, an international relations and global studies senior, and English junior Fogel said although they do not have previous Student Government experience, the example set by the current executive alliance shows experience is not necessary for making meaningful change in the organization.

“We want students to know that we don’t consider ourselves to be above them,” Fogel said. “We are one of them. We are their peers. From that stems the way we view our work on their behalf. We are one of them and care about the things they care about.

Tao, a radio-television-film, finance and business honors junior, and finance junior Upchurch said their creative approach will appeal to students. 

“If you’ve seen our twitter or videos, then you’ll know we’ve got the jokes,” Tao said. “But we’re also very serious about trying to fix the problems we see in student government, instead of just complaining about them,” 

Gilman, radio-television-film junior, and English senior Stoos said their experience in other organizations has guided their campaign and future initiatives including adding a lazy river and converting the turtle pond to accommodate bears.

“We have all the experience we need to run Student Government and make everyone happy: no experience,” Gilman said. “We write for the Travesty, and the Travesty writes for the people.”

The candidates could spend up to $1,000 on their campaigns. Tao and Upchurch spent $602, Villarreal and Williams spent $960, Shingledecker and Fogel spent $859 and Gilman and Stoos spent no money on their campaign.

Published on February 27, 2013 as "Campus-wide campaign comes to a conclusion".