Out of the four candidates up for approval as Associate Justices to the Student Supreme Court, only three were approved during Wednesday night’s student government meeting. The student government approved J.D. Brandmeyer, Trevor Mckey, and Jose Alarcon to serve as Associate Justices to the Student Supreme Court.

However, Jeffery Loffredo, a Student Supreme Court candidate, failed to be approved.

Loffredo was the first to be questioned.

“I wanted to do this because I wanted to do more for my school and it seemed like a great opportunity to jump on,” Loffredo said. “It just really appealed to me, and I wanted to put more on my resume.”

A few of the student government members had doubts concerning Loffredo’s motives.

“He said the resume word, is he really committed to his position?” said John Poshepny, a student government member.

There were opinions for and against the approval of Loffredo.

“I think you guys would be lying if you said you didn’t want to put student government on your resume, I think we should take into consideration that these four are the best of the candidates,” said Blake Pierce, a student senate member.

Student Body President Michelle Murphy stated her opinion after a few senators voiced doubts over Loffredo’s qualifications.

“I would like to point out that he interviewed with me and not with you, know your roles,” Murphy said.

After more opinions were said, Student Senate Speaker Jason Sandidge intervened the discussion.

“Get your heads on straight, we are all sitting next to each other, we all have to work with each other, this is getting absolutely ridiculous,” Sandidge said.

Mary Lane, a student senate member, also participated in the discussion.

“Everyone has to start somewhere, when I first came into student government I didn’t have any prior experience, you just have to dive in and catch on and if you flop, you won’t be back next semester,” Lane said.

Loffredo needed a two-thirds vote to join the student supreme; however, the motion failed.

Before beginning the approval process, Sandidge gave advice to the senators.

“These are all new people who have nothing to do with past court cases, it is not germane to bring up past instances during questioning,” Sandidge said

Brandmeyer, Mckey, and Alarcon were approved.

“I would like to interpret the constitution constitutionally, I would interpret it as a document,” Mckey said.

The senate motioned for a vote, and the approval of Mckey passed.

“He has proven qualified to me and he did show passion,” Poshepny said.

There were many different reactions after the meeting.

“I think that we made really good approval choices, each of them showed passion and that they wanted to do it. They also seemed very qualified,” said Anna Nasinska, a student senate member.

Murphy also commented.

“They are all great men, I am very disappointed that one did not get on, they would have all been great justices,” Murphy said. “If we put one group on the chopping block they should all be on the chopping block.”

Nasinska mentioned her thoughts on the matter between how senators are approved compared to how Associate Student Supreme Court members are approved.

“I think that there was a little bit of miscommunication, it doesn’t necessarily have to do with the difference between the members, personally, I did not know whether we could ask the senators up for approval questions or not,” Nasinska said.

Murphy continued to discuss what she expects from Branmeyer, Mckey, and Alarcon.

“They are all very intelligent, very well educated, and they will undoubtedly take careful consideration of each case that they face,” Murphy said.

A student government event was also mentioned at the meeting.

It is called Kickin’ it in the Quad and it is where members of the student government will be available and will incorporate games to attract students.

“I am really, really excited for Quakin’ in the Quad. It will be cool to see what people have to say and show students that student government is not some obscure, impersonal organization,” Nasinska said.

This will be held on Oct. 21, from 11a.m. to 2p.m.

The student government meets every Wednesday at 7p.m. in the Arcola-Tuscola Room located in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].