Speaker of Senate elected

The Students’ Association Senate began preparing for next year by electing a new speaker and deputy speaker of the Senate. Juniors Tom Hayes and Becca Wolfson will serve as speaker and deputy speaker respectively.Hayes has served as a senator and services chair and is currently the policy committee chair. He described the decision to run for speaker as a natural progression of his student government involvement. “I believe that the current leadership has made tremendous leaps and bounds in providing students with a government that serves them more effectively,” Hayes said. “I would like to see the relationship between SA groups and student government continue to grow to the point where they feel comfortable coming to us for support and help in achieving their goals.”Hayes’ specific goals include having the SA government provide better support to student groups, encouraging students to bring their concerns about campus life to the government and fostering debate before the senate.Wolfson is currently a Class of 2005 Senator. She was also recently elected to Senior Class Council and selected to be a Resident Advisor for next year. Up until a week ago, Wolfson did not anticipate running for deputy speaker.”I started thinking about a leadership position in Senate about a week ago following a three-hour Senate meeting,” Wolfson said. “I didn’t look at my watch once during the course of that meeting. That night, I realized how important taking an active role in student government was to me.”Both Hayes’ and Wolfson’s excitement is echoed by junior and incoming SA President Pete Nabozny.”I think that [Hayes and Wolfson] make a terrific pair of Senate leaders to work with,” Nabozny said. “They each bring different skills to the table, and I envision very harmonious yet effective relations between the branches this upcoming year.”Keesing can be reached at jkeesin@campustimes.org.