Mullins re-elected; Karanovich new SGA VP

Students voted in last week’s Student Government Association executive elections, with the 2010-11 president, vice president, secretary and treasurer being chosen.

Current SGA President Zach Mullins was re-elected to a second term, while sophomore Sen. Evan Karanovich was elected as the new vice president. Also, junior Sen. Claire Cantrell won the race for SGA secretar, and sophomore Sen. Megan Moss was elected treasurer. The voting took place online through myCATS and ended Feb. 19. Results were announced Feb. 21.

Mullins, a junior business management major, beat out challenger Ross Sheppard, the current treasurer, in the race for president. Previously Mullins served as an SGA senator and was involved as the president of the Resident Student Association on campus.

“I’m really excited with the win and with the chance to get to serve the students of GCSU again,” Mullins said. “We’ve done a lot of great things here, but it’s all for the students and their interests, so the real credit goes to them.”

Mullins cited several issues from this past year in the SGA and some goals moving forward.

“We’ve made a lot of progress on some really important issues like tailgating, and we’re going to be looking forward to working with the new dean of the business college, taking a look at the new mission statement and taking a look at Greek housing,” Mullins said. “Another real big issue that is going to come up is the plus and minus (grading) system, and whether we should adopt it here at GCSU. It’s all about benefiting the students and we’re looking forward to another year of continued success.”

Karanovich is a sophomore business management and criminal justice major currently serving his second term in the SGA Senate. He was elected vice president, beating out incumbent Kayla McCollam. Karanovich currently serves on the Campus Improvement Committee.

“I’m excited. My opponent and I both worked really hard and had good campaigns,” Karanovich said. “I’m happy and humble to represent the student body. I made promises to them, and I’m looking forward to carrying through on those.”

Karanovich said he is looking forward to his new job and is ready for the challenge.

“It’s never easy to lead the (SGA) Senate and guide them along the way, but it’s something new and exciting,” he said. “I’m going to be working to make sure that the students’ voices are heard, and that there’s not so much red tape. I want to be a better communicator and be able to help do what’s best for the university.”

Cantrell, a first-term junior senator was elected as SGA secretary and will replace outgoing senior David McLaughlin. She serves on several committees and is part of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority on campus.

Moss is a sophomore pre-early childhood education major currently serving her second term as a senator. She was elected SGA treasurer and will replace Sheppard in that position. She currently serves as public relations chairwoman for SGA.

“It feels really good to win. I’m excited and looking forward to fulfilling my commitments to the students,” Moss said. “I want to be available as much as possible, and I hope that SGA will continue to be acceptable to all students and serve them.”

At press time, the election results had not been fully certified, but raw numbers indicated an increase in voter turnout from last year. This came much to the satisfaction of Karanovich and Mullins.

“I think the student body here really embraces the idea of shared government just like in the United States,” Karanovich said. “It seems like every year, voting has increased and I think the students once again really stepped up.”

“It just goes to show this is all for the students,” Mullins said. “It’s a government of the students, by the students.”

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Feb 26 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry