By RORY MCCARTY

Senior Reporter

Voting for the new president of Oakland University Student Congress is this week, but new legislator positions are being voted on too. Because there are 25 open seats and only 22 people have applied, it’s a given that everyone who’s run for the position will get the job. But the legislators are running for the position for a variety of reasons.

“I would like to see a student congress that works for the students, and one that is going to not just vote ‘Yes’ on everything because they want a quick meeting or they did not do their homework,” said Eric Sturgis, an English major who is running for a legislator position.

Sturgis said he was running on a platform that includes having club sports as a part of the student budget, transparency in what student songress is voting about, and making things on campus more handicap-accessible. He is one of several candidates who are pushing for club sports and working with Chartwells.

He is one of the candidates who are in Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Dan Evola, SAE President and the current OUSC president, has decided not to run for reelection and instead is running for one of the legislator positions.

“This year, I had a couple of different things I wanted to focus on, like I was appointed president of my fraternity, and I want to focus on my band,” Evola said. Evola was unsure, but said there are about 10 SAE members applying for OUSC legislator positions.

Mike Diedrich, a freshman biology major and SAE member, is also applying for a legislator position.

“I have noticed that there are both positive and negative things happening around campus right now and if elected I know that I bring these problems to light and present them to the student council,” Diedrich said.

Candidate Brandon Gustafson, a sophomore, said he wanted to work with Chartwells and urban farming.

“I would like to be a legislator because I want to take an active role in the policy and programs run by the student congress,” Gustafson said.