SGA president wins uncontested election with 112 votes

Psychology sophomore Jacob Wong, who ran unopposed, was elected for a second term as president of the Student Government Association with 112 votes.

Chemistry sophomore Ariel Reynolds, who also ran unopposed, was elected commissioner with 120 votes.

SGA adviser and criminal justice Professor Tiffany Cox provided the totals today for the balloting, which was conducted online last week.

The two contested races will be this week with voting through 6 p.m. Friday. Results will be announced May 14 through ACES email.

A special election for the offices of vice president and treasurer was scheduled because of an error on the ballot last week.

The ballot listed Laura Belalcazar, criminal justice sophomore and SGA treasurer, and Mike Martinez, SGA commissioner and anthropology sophomore, as the candidates for vice president.

In fact, Natalie Johnson, digital design sophomore, is running against Martinez, and Belalcazar is a candidate for a second term as treasurer.

Arielle Heidbrink, radio-television-film sophomore and current SGA commissioner, is challenging Belalcazar for treasurer.

Cox said today that to be fair to Belalcazar, whose name was listed in two races, that a separate election was necessary. The ballot could not be corrected after it was available online.

Students can access the new ballot through a link from an email they have received in ACES.

Wong said today that because no one ran for secretary, he will fill the position by appointment.

Wong won the presidency for the 2011-12 term with 83 votes.

“Nobody ran against me, and that was disappointing,” Wong said after today’s SGA meeting in the health promotions office in Loftin Student Center.

After the meeting, Wong said SGA will host a Region 6 Texas Junior College Student Government Association conference in the fall, and plans must be complete before the start of fall classes.

Wong said he hopes to expand SGA committees during his second term, including adding a committee on security.

“We’d form real quick committees that would meet about specific incidents on campus, or things that we needed to be aware of or things that we needed to take actions on,” Wong said. “But right now, what I’m trying to do is I’m going to get more involvement with students, and so when a committee is formed, it will be formed primarily of students that are non-executive members of SGA.”

Wong said that with a series of Pepsi with the President meetings in the fall semester, SGA was able to stop individuals from parking along Howard Street between the parking garage and Evergreen Street. Vehicles parked there prevented other cars and emergency vehicles from passing through. The college posted no-parking signs.

Wong said he hopes to increase Sweet Treats events throughout his term because he saw lots of student interaction with past events. Sweet Treats is an event in which SGA sets up a tent in the mall and talks to students about their concerns.

Emails can be sent to SGA at SAC-studlife@alamo.edu.

For more information, call Cox at 210-486-0835.