West Virginia University students Jordan Workman and D.J. Casto were declared the unofficial winners of the 2004 Student Government Association elections late Thursday night (Feb. 26) at the Mountainlair.
Workman, a junior double major in political science and economics from Madison, W.Va., was elected Student Government Association president. Casto, a junior accounting major from Clarksburg, is SGA s new vice president.
As the previous vice president and a former member of the Board of Governors, Workman brings several years of student leadership experience to the SGA .
Over the past year, he and outgoing SGA President Charlie Battleson established Students for Higher Education, a statewide student organization that rallied against education budget cuts, and WVU s Student Infoline to help answer student questions about classes, housing, transportation or personal concerns.
Throughout his college career, Workman has been involved on campuswhether as a member of the WVU mens crew team, Phi Sigma Kappa or Mountainlair Advisory Board.
Casto has served on the Board of Governors as well as being active in the Italian American Organization, Gamma Beta Phi, Neuman Club at St. Johns parish and Pi Kappa Alpha.
The pair, which touted itself as the”Total Ticket,”campaigned for the past two weeks in a race that focused on improving student programs and services.
Specifically, Workman and Casto said they wanted to expand services and see more well-known restaurant establishments at the Mountainlair. They also planned to create a survey to assess the concerns of students.
“The survey would be area-intensive in respect to the food court, room use and services provided. We would like to stress that the student center is exactly that, and we need to look at the Mountainlair as our building,”Workman said.
In addition, they would seek to give the SGA more of a say in where student dollars go.
“Every year, there is a large amount of fees tacked onto your tuition, which makes attending school more expensive. While most all of these fees are necessary to maintain different programs and student facilities around campus, we, as students, do not have the power to reassess these fees and approve them,”Workman said.
Other campaign promises included continuing programs implemented by the Battleson administration, such as Students for Higher Education, a child development center and student employment center.
Fifteen slots were available on the Board of Governors. The newly-elected BOG members are: Shannon Logan, a junior public relations major from Baden, Pa.; Leah DiDomenico, a senior management information systems and marketing major from Morgantown; JoJo Johnson, a sophomore economics major from Richwood; Heather Richardson, a senior broadcast news major from St. Clairsville, Ohio; Lauren Oliver, a junior advertising major from Martinsburg; Jacob Brezinski, a sophomore political science major from Athens; Will Swann, a sophomore finance major from Charleston; Knute Scholl, an engineering major from Madison, W.Va.; Jason Gross, a freshman engineering major from Morgantown; Brent Hardman, a sophomore chemical engineering major from Parkersburg; Raj Shenoy, a junior exercise physiology major from Keyser; Beth Belch, a freshman international studies major from Uniontown, Pa.; Britni Schoonover, a sophomore biology major from Procious; Michael Kephart, a junior psychology major from Burlington; and Ali Gardezi, a junior aerospace engineering major from Pakistan.
Elected to the Athletic Council were John Michael Veltri, a sports management major from Clarksburg; and Shane DeVincent, a junior sports management major from Morgantown.
Official certification of these results will take place at 1 p.m. Friday (Feb. 27) in the Bowers Conference Room at the College of Law.