Brunner, Wrenn take leadership

Jesse Batson

Jesse Batson

Ryan Brunner and Tim Wrenn were elected the Students’ Association (SA) new president and vice president with an increased voter turnout of 21 percent.

Brunner, who was sworn into office Monday night, said he was pleased with his victory.

“We’re excited and looking forward to the new year and accomplishing the goals we set forth and trying to get things moving. Next year is actually the 125th anniversary of SDSU,” Brunner said.

With a landmark anniversary for the university, Brunner and Wrenn would like to see a slew of new changes by September.

Items such as a student listserv, a recycling program and a designated driver’s program are all on Brunner’s “to do” list for the summer.

Perhaps the biggest change next fall will be the opening of the new University Student Union. Brunner said the union has significant impact on students.

“It’s a major part of campus life. From two years ago to this year, you can see a night and day difference,” Brunner said. “It’s a central hub for student life on campus.”

With increased capacity, lounge space and computer bars available, Brunner predicts that the new building and its features will be heavily utilized.

In the meantime, the task that lies ahead of Brunner is unifying the SA and appointing new faces to certain positions in the SA office.

“Right now we’re in the process of appointing a finance chair and an administrative assistant,” Brunner said.

These tasks may not be as difficult as previous years because there are a number of senators that stayed in office. Brunner anticipates this will help him ease into the presidential chair.

“It’s good as far as transitioning,” Brunner said. “While we orientate and train new senators, we still have the old senators on those committee positions to accomplish the goals they set for the semester.”

An increased number of returning senators means a little less training required for next year, Brunner said.

Former President Amanda Mattingly plans to continue her involvement in SA by applying for the federation director.

By garnering this position, Mattingly, who will be attending graduate school at SDSU following her graduation next December, would be involved with the president and the vice president.

“I think the transition will go fairly smoothly with them still here to say, ‘Hey, by the way, you might want to remember this and this,’ ” Brunner said.

So, are there any words of advice from one president to another?

“Pick your battles,” Mattingly said. “Don’t take everything personally. You have to remember that, while it’s great to put your heart and soul into it, that it’s a business at the same time.”

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