This year, six students are running for the office of Student Association president. They include Adam Amit, Aaron Butler, Joshua Berk, Jonathan LaSala, Ah Hil Kim and Jasen Pascal. While all of them are promoting their campaigns on Facebook to reach a broad range of people, they all have different tactics and agendas in mind.

“I’ve seen how poorly our SA leaders have done their jobs, and I believe that I have the experience, leadership skills and vision to improve our SA more so than anyone else,” Amit said. He said he believes that past and current executive boards have let fighting take a front seat, which places the students in the back.

Amit has had experience in and outside of the SA. He has been a treasurer for College-in-the-Woods’ Seneca Hall and the Society for Human Resource Management, assistant to former SA President David Bass and is currently the director of Catalysts for Intellectual Capital 2020 (CIC 2020) and the treasurer of College-in-the-Woods Council.

As director of CIC 2020, he created and organized the Binghamton Blowout Block Party (B3P).

“This event brought the city, administrators, student groups and the student body together in Downtown Binghamton,” Amit said. “This was a feat never before accomplished.”

Amit has people from all over the University helping him campaign.

“I feel that it’s important to bring all different types of perspectives and experiences to the table,” he said.

According to Amit, the consideration of different ideas allows people to gain the best possible perspectives and make the best decisions.

Amit’s mission is to unite the SA to give students the maximum benefits.

“I believe the most important key to fostering unity is outreach,” Amit said. If elected, he would work with the new e-board to reach out to everyone, including resident assistants and club sports, to build a stronger foundation and new relationships.

He has also tried reaching out to students by attending a government meeting in each community as well as holding “Amit-and-Greet” nights which allows people to find out more about his campaign.

“I lead by example, and the example I have set for my campaign is one where I will always meet, talk and work with anyone next year,” he added.

Aaron Butler is currently the SA vice president for programming and was an Assembly representative the previous year.

He is currently running for president because he believes the SA can do better.

“The reason the past e-board has been weak is because some positions have been unwilling to work with others,” he said.

He believes there needs to be a leader that will bring the other five positions together under one goal and that he can accomplish that.

“I will make sure that the SA e-board is working cohesively to work for the students,” Butler added.

Butler’s campaign focuses on three mottos: treat others the way you want to be treated, respect of others is the key and check your ego at the door.

Jonathan LaSala announced his candidacy for SA president after seeing the growing obstacles BU is currently facing. He believes that the broken promises of past SA candidates have led to the breakdown of SA positions and student voices.

LaSala has had numerous leadership roles, including being the president of a fraternity and of the Interfraternal Council, as well as being a liaison to state Sen. Liz Krueger.

While most of his opponents are involved with the SA, LaSala strongly believes that being an “SA outsider” is very important.

“I believe I bring a new sense of leadership to the table, and while I will not promise the world, I will set realistic goals that I believe we as a student body can achieve,” he said.

LaSala wants to create more of a college atmosphere for students at BU and “restore the pride.”

“It becomes redundant when I hear from students how awesome Penn State or Miami University was; I do not contend that our school will ever grow to the size of such a University,” he said, “but I am confident that with a new agenda we can grow a new sense of pride that is unparalleled to other universities.”

If elected, LaSala will try to get more student seating for sports events, push for a larger nightlife Downtown, ask for funding to better Late Nite Binghamton, and will take a strong stance against the state government raising tuition and giving nothing back.

“If we can stand up as one voice and let it be known that we will not go quietly into the night, then I can guarantee better solutions for fiscal responsibility in the future,” LaSala said.

While he has had many friends and family helping with his campaign, his chief adviser and campaign manager, Paul Liggieri, has been the “MVP” in LaSala’s eyes. Liggieri, a senior political science major, keeps him on track and offers campaign advice from his previous political experience.

LaSala’s mission statement is to ensure that the student body has a fair say. His campaign slogan is: “A New Era. I believe that in the wake of growing obstacles such as busing issues, tuition issues, housing issues and residential life issues, a change is needed,” he said.

LaSala will be holding meet and greets, forums and “fireside meetings” regularly in order to keep students updated and to create a new sense of pride here at BU.

“I believe my leadership ability, previous experiences and willingness to help change things will help students become aware that I am the right man for the job,” he said.

“I firmly believe that our Student Association can be a guiding light for students who are not informed on the issues, who want to get involved or simply want to know who their representatives are,” LaSala said. “Binghamton University can be a beacon of hope for the SUNY system, and it starts by addressing the issues, creating a sense of pride and letting everyone know that our voices will be heard regardless of who is trying to silence them.”

According to LaSala, students don’t like SA election season because the same crowd is always involved.

“I am here to assure everyone that there is a new candidate in town, who can see outside the box, who is asking for your vote because well-done is always better than well-said,” he said.

Joshua Berk is running for president because after spending three years here, he believes that BU can do better.

After getting involved in student government last year, Berk became the chairperson of the SA’s legislature this year.

“I want to be president because I want to tear down the wall that separates students from their representative government,” Berk said.

He wants the SA to publish more information informing students of what is going on, where money is being spent and what lies in BU’s future.

“I have worked hard to make real changes on our campus these last years and as SA president am making a promise to the students that they will see a noticeable improvement in [the] academic, social and physical layout of our school after my administration,” said Berk.

Recently, Berk has been working on a few projects that he believes will better the BU environment.

He paired with student engineers to develop a tracking system for the OCCT blue buses. This program would allow students to go online or use their mobile devices to check where buses are and when they will be arriving.

“I believe if riding buses becomes more convenient it will increase ridership and hopefully help decrease parking congestion,” Berk said.

He’s also working on a capital investment account that will let the Student Assembly give out money for projects that will improve campus environment, ranging from construction projects in the Old University Union to a student group that can build creative bike racks.

“I believe that if we can encourage students to help physically improve our campus it will be a better place and we will all be able to have an increased sense of pride and ownership in our campus community,” he said.

Berk is also working to help the University make a smooth transition to Gmail as the mail server for next semester. He believes that this move will “increase collaboration and make our digital lives much simpler.”

According to Berk, the SA needs passionate constituents and a government that listens and helps students get involved.

“Together we can build a stronger, more united campus and together we can go far,” he said.

SA presidential candidates Ah Hil Kim and Jasen Pascal could not be reached for comment.