Five new student assembly members were elected to represent the College of Arts and Sciences at Student Association’s meeting Monday night.

After seven candidates spoke and answered questions, the assembly elected five students: Amanda DeNardo, Nedda Sarshar, Jessica Brosofsky, Philip Porter and Heather Nahm — to each represent 300 constituents in Arts and Sciences. The meeting took place in Maxwell Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

It took more than an hour before the assembly finished electing the new representatives.

SA members had a mix of questions for the candidates.

President Allie Curtis asked the candidates if they could identify George Langford as the dean of Arts and Sciences and if they could locate his office. None of the candidates could.

“Something to research, you know,” Curtis added light-heartedly.

Candidates were also asked about what they feel could be improved on campus. Nahm, a freshman political science major, said dining hall hours could be changed. Porter, a freshman international relations major, said one change he would like to have is bigger desks in buildings such as Hall of Languages and Sims Hall.

Taylor Bold, chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, asked all of the candidates whom their heroes were.

DeNardo chose her aunt, an S.I. Newhouse School Of Public Communications alumna, who she said was the first one in her family to go to college.

“Coming here was pretty sentimental for me,” DeNardo said, an international relations and French and francophone studies major.

Nahm, a freshman political science major, said her AP Calculus teacher was her biggest hero. Porter said he admired former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for overcoming various obstacles.

“My hero is probably Harry Potter,” Sarshar said, a freshman English and textual studies major. “I really enjoy his character and his strength and his ability to adapt to difficult situations.”

After the questioning was over, the candidates went outside while the assembly went through notes from prior interviews and voted through a secret ballot. Once the assembly finished voting, the newly elected assembly representatives were brought back into the auditorium.

Sarshar said she was nervous, but she liked how SA sent members out to talk to the candidates to calm their nerves.

“It just made you realize how much of a comforting environment it is,” she added.

The assembly also made Emily Ballard, the former chair of the Board of Elections and Membership, the acting chair of the Judicial Review Board.

Toward the end of the meeting, Parliamentarian Ben Jones announced that on Sunday there will be a finalized draft of SA’s new constitution. On Monday, it will be presented to the assembly, where they will review specific sections and make changes as needed before voting on it.

Published on September 17, 2013 at 2:17 am

Contact Ellen: ekmeyers@syr.edu | @ellenkmeyers