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Student Body President Candidates: Allison Schwartz

 

(Photo courtesy of Allison Schwartz) 

Patriot Weekly submitted the following questions to the student body president candidates and is grateful for their responses.

Question: Why did you decide to run for student body president?

Allison Schwartz: I decided to run for President because I feel as though I can become a good connection between faculty, and students. I am passionate about making the UT Tyler experience as great as possible for UT Tyler students. If I am elected, I feel as though I can create a better overall experience for the student population.

What do you hope to accomplish if elected?

I hope to accomplish several things if I am elected. First, I hope to create a strong connection between students and faculty. Second, I hope to facilitate a strong relationship between Greek Life and Athletics. I would love to see more partnered events between the two largest groups on campus. Third, I hope to facilitate more events on campus. I have heard the opinions on campus that more events would be greatly appreciated, and I want to make sure that students’ needs are met. Lastly, I hope to make sure that the student opinion is heard and understood by faculty.

What qualifications or experiences do you feel prepare you for the role?

Currently, I am the Student Athletic Advisory Committee president. Within this role, I help a select number of athletes from each team vote on new legislation from the NCAA, gain community service through our organization, and support each team on campus.

I am also the captain of the UT Tyler Women's Tennis team. In this role, I guide our players during the season, help each player perform to the best of their abilities, and facilitate the creation of a strong culture within the team.

Why should students vote for you instead of your opponent?

I believe that my experiences will help me to be a strong and decisive leader that will lead Student Government Association in a great direction. I want to make sure that our students feel heard and create a stronger bond between student organizations. Being a part of our athletics department has given me a unique opportunity to become a leader every day that my opponent has not gotten to experience.

What will you do as student body president to address student complaints about scarce parking at the main campus?

I will listen to the student complaints about the parking at main campus and bring them to faculty to create a solution to the issue. I believe that although building more parking will help, there is also many other possible solutions that are available. I want to make sure that every possible scenario is taken into consideration by faculty to best fit our student needs. 

Do you support or oppose the possible loss of campus green space to construct new parking lots? 

Personally, I love having green spaces on campus because I feel as though they make our campus very unique. Therefore, I am against it due to the addition of new parking enforcement strategies that will be introduced next year. I believe that these additions will greatly help the parking situation, as it will deter students who live in on campus housing from parking on campus. 

Do you support or oppose the athletics fee increase proposal?

I support the athletic fee referendum because it is helping money be dispersed to other student organizations that are in need. These student organizations will have more money for their activities, which will increase the student numbers within the organizations. I believe that the less athletics can rely on the university the better.

What kind of support can you provide to students who feel that some of Swoop-N-Go's prices are unfairly high?                                       

I would really like to investigate the prices of the Swoop-N-Go alongside the Sodexo representative and our other faculty. I believe that there is a solution to the issues at hand. Whether it is to lower the prices, or bring more awareness to students on why the prices may seem high. 

Anything else you would like to say?

I would love for each student to consider voting for me as the Student Government Association President. It would be an honor to represent the student body and help make our university a better experience for everyone.

Allison Schwartz is a candidate for student body president in student government’s March 20-22 spring election.

 

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