Four declare plans to run for student body president

Four candidates for SGA president, representing a wide range of student views, kick off their campaigns today.

Two are Student Government Association members: Outlying Commuter Legislator Steve Glickman and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Nick Mongelluzzo. The others, NAACP Chapter President Wanika Fisher and former opinion columnist for The Diamondback Malcolm Harris, hail from entirely different campus groups.

This year's SGA election will feature a larger ballot than the last two years with four parties instead of a two-party stand-off. Outgoing president Jonathan Sachs, who won a position in the University Senate earlier this month, is not running for re-election.

Glickman, a sophomore government and politics major, said the reason he chose to run was simple.

"I'm the most qualified person for the SGA and the campus," he said, pointing to his two years as an SGA legislator and his involvement in several SGA committees.

Glickman's ONE Party has prepared a 10-point platform that focuses on issues such as promoting safety and advocating for students' rights in Annapolis and in Washington, where Glickman said more lobbying efforts need to be made. Glickman also pledged to work for a student discount for riding the Metro.

Sophomore government and politics major Nick Mongelluzzo said he chose to run with the Unite UMD Party because the SGA isn't fulfilling its potential in creating positive change on the campus.

"I think with the amount of power and influence we do have ... I don't believe we're using it properly to get results," he said.

Mongelluzzo joined the organization as a Leonardtown legislator in the fall before resigning in mid-October to chair the SGA's Governmental Affairs Committee, which lobbies for student issues in local, state and federal government. He also serves on two other committees within the SGA.

A key focus of the Unite UMD party is to create "tangible" changes on the campus, such as the bus shelter near Regents Drive Garage the SGA approved earlier this year, he said. The party's platform also emphasizes safety and lobbying: Both Mongelluzzo and Glickman have outlined safety plans that call for establishing a campus-wide neighborhood watch program.

Fisher, the lone junior in the running, is the president of the university's NAACP chapter. She has also interned with state delegates Victor Ramirez (D-Prince George's) and Jolene Ivey (D-Prince George's), and unsuccessfully ran for senior vice president last year on the Students Party ticket, which also featured Sachs.

The government and politics and African American studies major stressed a back-to-basics approach in her party's platform, in which the Connect Party would work to produce practical results, such as a color-coded campus safety map designed to make students more aware of dangerous spots at the university. The party's platform focuses on transparency and student outreach through a combination of technology and old-fashioned suggestion boxes.

Sophomore English and government and politics major Harris, a former Diamondback opinion columnist, rounds out the list of candidates as a member of the Student Power Party. Harris co-founded the local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society in the fall of his freshman year and worked as a precinct captain in Iowa for Democrat John Edwards' presidential election campaign last winter.

Harris said his presidency would focus on organizing students directly to achieve his party's campaign goals.

"If you've got 3,000 students on the mall, you can achieve anything," he said.

Major issues on the party platform include eliminating the use of sweatshop labor in producing university merchandise, passing a Good Samaritan policy that would protect students who call for help when underage friends drink too much and working on campus sustainability issues such as the Bicycle Master Plan.

The four candidates took different approaches to forming their parties. Glickman and Mongelluzzo both handpicked current SGA legislators for their tickets, although both also recruited from outside the organization, within groups such as the College Democrats and the College Republicans.

Fisher said she talked to other student group leaders in her search for running mates, but didn't feel the need to draw heavily from the NAACP, because she already has "the NAACP's perspective." Harris looked to members of Students for a Democratic Society and toward other advocacy groups such as Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

The candidates will participate in an SGA-sponsored debate April 2 and a Diamondback-sponsored debate April 5 before campaigning ends next Monday. SGA elections will take place Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

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