Final statements

Every issue, The Maneater will choose a topic important to students and ask the Missouri Students Association presidential candidates to explain what they plan to do about it.

By Erica Zucco and Gwen Daniels

Published Nov. 13, 2007

Dustin Barker

Jessica Ekhoff

If elected, Missouri Students Association presidential candidate Dustin Barker and vice presidential candidate Jessica Ekhoff's first actions would be to finish the work they started during the election.

"There were some groups we didn't get the chance to speak to that we really wanted to, specifically the Legion of Black Collegians and Triangle Coalition," Barker said.

Barker and Ekhoff would also use the time in between election and inauguration to familiarize themselves with the fine points of MSA.

"From personal relationships and experiences earlier in college, we have a pretty good idea of how MSA works," Barker said. "However, if elected we'd use the weeks in between now and inauguration to meet with committee leaders and better understand details of the organization."

Barker said one of the slate's main priorities was remaining true to their platform and promises made throughout the election rather than pandering to specific audiences.

"It was very important to us to go through the election without losing our integrity," Barker said. "We never changed our speeches or stances on issues when we visited different groups."

Jim Kelley

Chelsea Johnson

MSA presidential candidate Jim Kelley and vice-presidential candidate Chelsea Johnson seek to achieve the goals of their platform.

"If we are elected, we're supposed to work on the things we ran on," Kelley said. "We have to stick to the things we said we would do."

The slate wants to focus on better representation of minority students, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. They want improved communication in the Greek community, a minority recruitment program through Target HOPE and an expansion of STRIPES.

The slate plans to recruit cabinet members through media announcements; mass e-mails and personal appeals to student organizations across campus; and from the current MSA.

Kelley said their management style would be to stick to the agenda.

"It's not about waffling and swapping back and forth," he said. "It's less whimsical and reflexive."

The slate said the MSA president and vice-president should set the course of action without aimlessly leaning "whichever way the wind blows," Kelley said.

"I don't buy into the notion that student views change every few weeks," Kelley said. "I know there's a fascination with how you respond to new and different student concerns, but I don't think student concerns change that frequently."

Kelley said although the slate is open to new issues, their platform did not change greatly during their campaign. The candidates did add environmental sustainability to their platform after meeting with Sustain Mizzou.