Ann Kopecky

Experience is the key to Amanda Mattingly and Doug Timm’s campaign for Student Association president and vice president.

“I really think that Student Association needs someone who can relate to students, that is approachable,” Mattingly said. “I think we can bring a lot to SA through the experiences we’ve had.”

Mattingly and Timm are just two of the four candidates running for Student Association president and vice president at South Dakota State University. The other candidates are Clint Powell and Dave Hove from the College of Agriculture and Engineering. Mattingly and Timm both represent the College of Arts and Science. The election will be held March 3 and 4.

Mattingly, a senior history and political science major from Whiting, Iowa, has been involved with student government since fifth grade. At SDSU, Mattingly has been involved with various student organizations across campus. She is a senator in SA from the College of Arts and Science and is involved with several committees through student association. She is president of Alpha Xi Delta, an executive board member of Children’s Miracle Dance Network and is involved with the political science club.

Timm, a junior history and pre-med major from Omaha, Neb., also brings a long list of involvement to the campaign. He is vice president of Delta Chi and is in the student Honors program at SDSU.

Mattingly and Timm’s campaign motto is “Building More in 2004.” “What it comes down to, is two people who will listen to you and what you need as a student,” Timm said.

Mattingly and Timm have four proposals they plan to work on if they are elected president and vice president.

Their first goal is to strengthen the relationship between student association with hall governments and campus organizations. They would like to see an open-door policy set in place so that the SA would have more of an understanding of campus organizations’ policies and programs. The SA would also be available to help organizations write grants and get promotions.

Mattingly and Timm’s second goal is to make sure the union transition goes smoothly. The SA will be moved to the United Methodist Campus Ministries next year and Mattingly and Timm want to make sure students know where to go for help. They would like to see the SA set up a table at each of the eating places once a week to be there to talk to students. “We want to be there to make the SA presence known throughout campus,” Mattingly said.

Their third proposal is to lobby the legislature for reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Matttingly said she has researched the act thorougly and has found that it will affect students’ financial aid and funding of Pell Grants. Mattingly and Timm want to make sure federal funding won’t be cut.

Mattingly and Timm’s final item on their agenda is to promote the study abroad program. They said they’d like to see SDSU bring more students to the university as well as send more SDSU students off to international universities.