by Samson Tamijani
The annual ASG senate and executive races have a lot up for grabs this year. Students have the power to vote on a number of issues, from increases in fees to the potentially electing the first Muslim president in the
Preceding this week’s voting, mass crowds were jubilant for their favorite candidates in the ASG debates last week. Three tickets represent the different candidates running for the roles of President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Spark The Change, Together We AR and Unity each prioritize safety, diversity and inclusion and mental health.
“Your religion, your ethnicity, the language that you speak,” said Mariam Siddiqui, presidential candidate under the Spark The Change ticket after the debate. Siddiqui is also of Pakistani Muslim background. “Any other type of identity we always try to incorporate and as we said, we want to widen the circle to make sure ASG includes everyone.”
Fellow presidential candidate Jared Pinkerton of the Unity ticket remarked on supporting students and staff regarding mental health access.
“If we’re having that conversation and we’re fostering that growth in each person,” Pinkerton said, “that’s what matters because they have to have the education to know how to respond, to respond correctly.”
A notable vote on student ballots is Referendum 1, which supports raising the student activity fee by 2.5 percent. Supporters say this will help fund groups like the Distinguished Lecturers and Headliners committees, and Safe Ride.
As for the ASG executive tickets, the Arkansas Traveler released an article this week detailing that not all campaigns’ promises are realistic. All three tickets are featured with