Sixteen students from both the Students First Party and

the Student Pride Party will run for senate member positions at

next week’s Student Government elections.

The two parties announced their candidates for Student

Senate today.

The Students First Party has experienced candidates,

running current senate members Joe Robbins, a senior political

science major; James Paton, a junior economics major; Ashonda

Simmons, a junior African-American major; Nick Skipitaris, a

speech communication major; Corey Wilson, a senior political

sciences major; Jeremy Ewing, a senior buisness management

major; and Seth Quin, a family and consumer sciences major, for

re-election.

First-time candidates Mace Boshart, a freshman pre-med

major; Donna Fernandez, a sophomore business major; and Nikki

Verone, a freshman social science major, also will run on the

Student First ticket.

“(The Student First candidates) are a diverse group of

candidates that have experience and are looking to gain

experience,” Ewing said.

The majority of the Student Pride Party’s senate

candidates have not previously served in Student Government.

Stephanie Isaac, a sophomore English major; Carissa

Brooks, a senior speech communication major; Portia Andrews, a

freshman psychology major; and Bill Davidson, a freshman

undecided major, will run their first senate campaign on the

Student Pride ticket.

The two other Student Pride senate candidates, Tim

Edwards, a speech communication major; and Shonda Clancy, a

sophomore biological sciences major, are current Student Senate

members.

Edwards said the fact that many of the candidates are new

to Student Government is an asset rather than a liability.

The newcomers provide a fresh voice that is needed in the

senate, as senate members often “get away from what the

students want,” he said.

The new candidates, as students themselves, can relate

more to the student body, he said.

A list of the candidates, as well as the two parties’

platforms, is available at the Student Government Web site, at

http://www.eiu.edu/~stdtgov/elect.htm.

Student Government elections will be held April 17 and 18.