Jesse Batson

“A fresh start to D-I,” is the slogan SA presidential candidate Mitch Fargen and his vice presidential running mate, Hank McCall have chosen.

“We’re fresh to the SA community and we’re going fresh into D-I, so we feel that it’s a great slogan for our campaign because that’s what we want to do,” Fargen said.

When Fargen’s original running mate was sent to Iraq, the answer as to who he was going to ask to run with him was obvious.

At the suggestion of his friends, Fargen put his name into the SA presidential race.

“I know Hank is obviously qualified with his pre-law and what he wants to accomplish, so I just asked Hank,” Fargen said.

Now fourth-year juniors, Fargen and McCall have known each other since they were freshmen and believe they can offer a fresh perspective for SDSU.

The top five items on Fargen’s and McCall’s platform are getting a student rental website up and running, expanding SDSU minorities, creating a student listserv, creating a new wellness center, and expanding wireless internet.

Several of the ideas came from SDSU President Peggy Miller when she met with all of the SA presidential and vice presidential candidates. Fargen and McCall were in agreement that Miller’s ideas would benefit the university, especially when it comes to the technological side of things.

“We’re moving onto Division I. We’re growing as a university. We might as well take the next step in becoming more technologically advanced and a lot of the major universities or technologically advanced universities have wireless internet available to their students,” Fargen said.

Fargen and McCall also plan on looking into the possibilities of making laptops available for students to rent from the university.

The addition of a new wellness center is another item that Fargen and McCall believe would benefit the campus.

“I think we should really push that wellness center, to be honest with you. The sooner we get on that, the better for the university. It’s an all-around deal, just as the student list server and the rental site are. It benefits everyone,” McCall said.

An item that is not on the agendas of other candidates is expanding university minorities.

“We’re going D-I, the campus is getting bigger and I feel that we need to get more minorities in here because that’s how the world is,” Fargen said.

In order to promote SDSU to minorities, Fargen and McCall would tie advertising into their plan.

“As far as bringing in more minorities, I think that ties in with advertisement and promoting SDSU to a wider range regionally; trying to spread our advertisements more throughout urban areas,” McCall said.

This approach goes back to Fargen and McCall’s slogan as being a fresh start for D-I. Appealing to broader audiences is something Fargen and McCall want to distinguish SDSU from other universities in the state.

“We want to be the university in this state,” Fargen said. “When you think South Dakota colleges, you think of SDSU.”

Other plans include adding more of the flashing blue security lights to the campus.

“I feel since the campus is getting bigger in campus and size, I feel we need more security systems,” Fargen said.

Snow removal is another item that Fargen believes would provide for a safer campus.

“I feel that removing snow is horrible on this campus. I think that we need to get somebody up earlier, we have to get there before students start walking on the snow because it affects every single person on the campus, students and teachers,” he said.

Convenience for students who are night owls is another issue Fargen would like to address.

“I know this is another thing that will be tough, but [I would like] longer computer hours. I feel we need one thing here: A decent-sized computer lab, 24 hours a day because I don’t think UPD’s three computers down there are going to cut it,” Fargen said. “Some people are staying up all night long, doing papers, doing research and they need access to that.”

In the immediate future, Fargen and McCall would like to see new scoreboards added for the 2005 football season.

“We want new scoreboards. We want people to see our step to D-I,” Fargen said.

McCall believes the new scoreboards for football season would promote the switch to D-I.

“With our athletic teams going out and performing the way they are, we’re getting our name out there and we’re getting recognized,” McCall said. “Bigger schools coming in here means a larger fan base and larger crowds, and with larger crowds coming in, we want them to see what SDSU is becoming and that we are capable of being in the Division I program.”

Despite not having previous experience in the SA, Fargen and McCall hope to make a difference on campus. Fargen has been actively involving himself in the campaigning process, trying to learn the ropes of the SA.

“I’ve been going to every SA meeting since we’ve been nominated,” Fargen said. “I’ve been going to the office a lot more and I’ve been talking to Amanda (Mattingly), who is the president right now, and trying to get involved and getting to know people.”

McCall believes a fresh perspective is just what he and Fargen can offer.

“Everything that the SA has done in the past is very good. They’ve done nothing but make gains for the university, but now that we’re in a new era – the Division I era – it’s time for some new faces and new steps to be taken,” McCall said.

After four years of being SDSU students, they have heard what students believe would make the campus better.

“We’ve been here the past four years, and we’ve been around the university, and we’ve heard what people have to say, and their concerns and comments and such,” McCall said. “Now that we have the opportunity to win this election, now we can actually get them done.”

#1.885337:472588613.jpg:mitchmug.jpg:Mitch Fargen:#1.885336:3310178040.jpg:hankmug.jpg:Hank McCall: