Spring Break
Turner elected as speaker of the Senate
Tyson Holder to finish Turner's vice presidency
Bob Bajek / Student Government Editor
Issue date: 5/4/09 Section: News
Tiffany Turner was elected Student Senate Speaker at Wednesday's Student Senate meeting.
As Student Senate Speaker, Turner wants to fix the elections commission so offending candidates and/or parties could be punished, find a different conference to go in place of the Conference for Student Government Associations and get Student Government recruitment in the South Quad.
Turner defeated Jarrod Scherle 17-7 in the almost hour-long election that ended at 12:40 a.m. Thursday.
Scherle's platform had included a printer and scanner for the 24-hour study lounge in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
He also said he wanted to implement the camera for video publicity and have open forums once a month in the Grand Ballroom.
Ryan Kerch, student vice president for student affairs, and Senate member Nahder Houshmand nominated Turner for Student Senate Speaker.
Houshmand said he supported Turner because she helped him as a new senator and would be a proactive speaker where new appointments and elected senators would come with a voice.
Kerch said the Apportionment Board was in chaos this year, while Turner called the AB members out behind the scenes and not publicly.
Scherle was nominated by newly seated Matthew Pickham, who is a member of Scherle's fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Pickham said Scherle was great with recruitment for the fraternity and one of the founding members who helped build the organization.
"Scherle has the ability to be a salesperson, but people gravitate towards him," Pickham said.
During the election, Student Senate Speaker Drew Griffin broke his neutrality as the speaker and showed his support for Turner, saying she "is the best candidate out there," citing her experience on the AB and as a senator and executive.
Chris Kromphardt told the Senate Turner was the best candidate for the job because she is "realistic, resilient, and has the ability to spitball ideas with committees for ideas."
"She has dealt with these fiscal situations in a professional capacity," he said. "When there will be new proposals for next year, we will have a considerably lower reserve budget for the fall, so fiscal responsibility is going to be a huge part in this."
During the election, Senate member Brittany Wells told the Senate she was torn between the two candidates.
"The person you are voting for tonight will be running our meetings and will be making big decisions," Wells said. "You need to have confidence in the person you are voting for, or you should abstain."
Senate member Isaac Sandidge disagreed with Wells' point and said Senate members should vote for a candidate, or they would be wasting student voices.
After Turner's election, Scherle said he would continue as a representative.
"I have no intentions of resigning on a bitter note," Scherle said. "The ideas I threw out there, I fully intend on bringing back to the Senate. I might run again in the future, but until then, I will continue to always be a servant to the student body."
Turner stepped down from her position as student vice president for business affairs.
Tyson Holder, student vice president for business affairs-elect, will fulfill Turner's term that ends July 1.
Holder was approved by the Senate and will continue in that position for the 2009-10 academic year.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
As Student Senate Speaker, Turner wants to fix the elections commission so offending candidates and/or parties could be punished, find a different conference to go in place of the Conference for Student Government Associations and get Student Government recruitment in the South Quad.
Turner defeated Jarrod Scherle 17-7 in the almost hour-long election that ended at 12:40 a.m. Thursday.
Scherle's platform had included a printer and scanner for the 24-hour study lounge in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
He also said he wanted to implement the camera for video publicity and have open forums once a month in the Grand Ballroom.
Ryan Kerch, student vice president for student affairs, and Senate member Nahder Houshmand nominated Turner for Student Senate Speaker.
Houshmand said he supported Turner because she helped him as a new senator and would be a proactive speaker where new appointments and elected senators would come with a voice.
Kerch said the Apportionment Board was in chaos this year, while Turner called the AB members out behind the scenes and not publicly.
Scherle was nominated by newly seated Matthew Pickham, who is a member of Scherle's fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Pickham said Scherle was great with recruitment for the fraternity and one of the founding members who helped build the organization.
"Scherle has the ability to be a salesperson, but people gravitate towards him," Pickham said.
During the election, Student Senate Speaker Drew Griffin broke his neutrality as the speaker and showed his support for Turner, saying she "is the best candidate out there," citing her experience on the AB and as a senator and executive.
Chris Kromphardt told the Senate Turner was the best candidate for the job because she is "realistic, resilient, and has the ability to spitball ideas with committees for ideas."
"She has dealt with these fiscal situations in a professional capacity," he said. "When there will be new proposals for next year, we will have a considerably lower reserve budget for the fall, so fiscal responsibility is going to be a huge part in this."
During the election, Senate member Brittany Wells told the Senate she was torn between the two candidates.
"The person you are voting for tonight will be running our meetings and will be making big decisions," Wells said. "You need to have confidence in the person you are voting for, or you should abstain."
Senate member Isaac Sandidge disagreed with Wells' point and said Senate members should vote for a candidate, or they would be wasting student voices.
After Turner's election, Scherle said he would continue as a representative.
"I have no intentions of resigning on a bitter note," Scherle said. "The ideas I threw out there, I fully intend on bringing back to the Senate. I might run again in the future, but until then, I will continue to always be a servant to the student body."
Turner stepped down from her position as student vice president for business affairs.
Tyson Holder, student vice president for business affairs-elect, will fulfill Turner's term that ends July 1.
Holder was approved by the Senate and will continue in that position for the 2009-10 academic year.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
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