Senatorial candidates

Vincent Alexander

Alexander will focus on student involvement in the administration as well as grassroots student organization of services that the “PSU bureaucracy is unable to adequately provide,” he said.

“Like most PSU students, I came to PSU on a crooked path,” Alexander said. “I worry about finances, I worry about what is going to happen after I graduate and I worry about the world I live in, what it does to my community and what my community can do to make it better.”

Michael A. Collins

For his campaign, Collins will focus on getting students involved in student government and having a legitimate voice in the decisions made during their time at PSU.

“I am most suited for this responsibility for the simple reason that I can relate to nearly all my fellow students; from the working students, to transfer students, to my brothers and sisters who served this great nation in the armed services,” Collins said. “I am willing and able to advocate on behalf of the best interests of all students here at PSU, in whatever aspect the student body deems necessary.”

Ryan Day

Day, who is running on the Victor Mena and Mona Syeda slate, said the slate’s goals are student-centered, such as evaluating PSU’s contract with Higher One and increasing access to computer labs and the library.

“Born and raised in Southeast Portland, I understand and appreciate a strong sense of community and involvement,” Day said. “Increasing a sense of community and on-campus involvement will benefit all students.”

Amber Kelsall

Kelsall’s key focuses for her campaign are improving student engagement in ASPSU affairs, textbook affordability, tuition reductions and transportation issues. “I want to bridge that gap so that students can approach their representatives for help with issues,” Kelsall said, “to share their ideas and suggestions or to just actively engage their reps in conversation about what’s currently in the works.

“I want open and honest dialogue and involvement with my fellow students here at PSU,” she said. She believes she is a good candidate because she knows “what’s important to others and [how] to work together with students to solve issues that directly affect us. I believe in ‘by the people, for the people’ and will work diligently to make sure that everything I do will benefit the students of PSU.

“I’m just like any other non-traditional student who wants to make a difference by helping student voices be heard,” she added.

Parker Michael Knight

Knight’s focus is to crack down on campus corruption, promote healthy snacks and food safety practices for campus vendors, and help student clubs find retail space to sell merchandise.

“I am ethical, [an] action-doer, and fast and efficient, and I write to President Obama. We all should write to him,” Knight said. “I am talented and resourceful and have no fear.”

Rosa Martinez

Martinez will focus her campaign on campus representation and activism for all students at PSU. She currently serves as ASPSU vote campaign manager and the Oregon Student Association vote committee chair.

“My experience in activism has caused me to become passionate in advocating for students. Being a first generation student, I know it is difficult to have a voice while adjusting to college life,” Martinez said. “Having interned for ASPSU during fall and winter terms I have succeeded in building strong leadership skills. I have gained firsthand experience in Salem advocating for lower tuition costs, textbook affordability and tuition equity,” she added.

Elvin Ramirez

For his campaign, Ramirez will focus on removing corruption and bringing in ethical leadership to ASPSU, adding more community service opportunities, housing privatization and student access to ASPSU.

“I will be the best candidate for this position because I have a great background on how ethics in leadership fosters good social economic development in people of struggle,” Ramirez said. “I gained this through creating the first service club for my community and being involved at a very young age in union organizing.”

Phoenix A. Singer

For his campaign, Singer will focus on getting ASPSU more involved with students of marginalized communities and help them tackle their issues. He would also like to hold regular meetings with student groups in order to come up with ways to improve student life on campus.

“Underrepresented communities often feel they don’t have a voice in politics, and in university education this is especially true,” Singer said. “As a person of color I know how it feels when others speak for me instead of listening to me…As a true advocate of democracy, I believe I’m the best candidate because I want to truly represent students and not just speak for them.”

Anthony Stine

Stine currently serves as ASPSU communications director. For his senate campaign, he will focus on the cost of textbooks, state funding and access for higher education, and transportation costs. Stine believes that ASPSU should fight university administration tuition hikes and funding cuts in Salem.

“I believe I am the best candidate for this position because I understand the diverse community culture at PSU better than the other candidates do. I also understand the policy process better than anyone running on the other slates does,” Stine said. “What we need is a balanced approach to fighting tuition increases, one that is balanced between focusing on the administration and on the action in Salem; this will be especially critical this coming year, with the state legislature in Salem in full session,” he added.

Melissa Timora

Timora is currently involved in six other PSU student groups and believes this experience makes her a good candidate for senator. Additionally, Timora said that her experience in her family’s restaurant combined with the experience she gained during her involvement with various PSU events gives her a strong skill set needed to be a member of ASPSU.

“I place a high emphasis on education and if granted the opportunity, I will work hard to ensure students have all the necessary resources to be able to graduate as soon as possible,” Timora said. “The ultimate goal should be to enable students to get out into the job market and to well equip them with the ability to be successful and empowered in their jobs,” she added.

Tom Worth

For his campaign, Worth will focus on representing students at both a campus level and a state level, as well as bring more stability to the funding that PSU students rely on in order to achieve success.

Worth previously served on the student government at Portland Community College and believes this experience makes him the best candidate for senator. “During the summer and fall I completed an internship with Sen. [Jeff] Merkley before spending the legislative session interning with State Representative Michael Dembrow,” Worth said. “This experience has provided me with a broad skill base that will help me accomplish my goal of representing the student body at the state and campus levels. There are two key ingredients in representation: accountability and results.”

Other candidates

At the time of publication, these students have registered as senatorial candidates but did not respond to interview requests and have not submitted information for to the elections board for the ASPSU Voting Guide:

Michelle Jeong
Yesenia Silvia-Hernandez
Amber Kelsall
Caitlin Green-Healy
Jaime Estevez