Volume 124 Issue 54
kansan.com
Friday, November 4, 2011
the student voice since 1904
NOTICE
WHAT IT'S LIKE // TO RUN FOR STUDENT BODY > We know you're curious. PRESIDENT
| BY LIBBY JOHNSON AS TOLD BY MATT GALLOWAY |
Libby Johnson, a senior from Lawrence, won the election for the Student Senate president on April 14, 2011. Johnson and her running mate, Gabe Bliss, a sophomore from Olathe, witnessed the announcement from The Yacht Club along with dozens of members of their coalition, KUnited. The duo secured 60 percent of the 5,192 votes cast. Her involvement in student government started in high school, continued as a freshman senator and climaxed with her victory last April.
Contributed photo
My family thinks I'm crazy for doing this. My parents are science and math professors and they didn't understand why I would ever want to be involved in student government. But when the announcement that I had won the presidency was broadcast on KUJH-TV that night at The Yacht Club, you couldn't have removed the smiles from their faces.
By the time I arrived at KU, I wanted to be more than just another graduate when I left. I wanted to make an impact at a place that meant so much to me as a Lawrence native, knowing I would always call this place home.
I worked my way up the ladder from a freshman senator to the executive secretary before I decided to throw my name into the mix for president. And I can honestly say it was like being in a dead sprint for 30 days straight. You're putting in all hours of the day, skipping sleep to do any homework you might have. You don't have a social life at all. You literally wake up thinking about the campaign and go to bed thinking about the campaign, because you have to.
The weeks leading up to the election were an emotional roller coaster. The controversy my coalition dealt with for chalking the sidewalks early was something I didn't expect to be an issue, but I've learned that there is reality and there is what people say, and you have to understand that those are going to be different, and you have to learn to live with it. When you're running a campaign, you are in a spotlight. People are looking for you to mess up. The littlest things that you think are just
totally obvious blow up and come out in the newspaper to be you intentionally breaking rules, or trying to get ahead in some way. It's something you learn that is going to happen, and that sucks. But you deal with it.
Election week was nerve-racking. But once it's go-time, you don't have time to think about how you're feeling or your health. It's probably the most draining time of the campaign, but it's also the most rewarding. Coming to understand that there are people supporting you just because they believe in what you're doing is a really great feeling.
Polls closed at 4 p.m. that Thursday. I ran to class to take a quiz, dashed out as soon as I finished and made my way to The Yacht Club where we were having our viewing party. I remember there being confusion about just how the results would be relayed to us when they were released at 6 p.m. that night. Everyone was excited and socializing at first, but as the time of the announcement drew closer and closer, everyone got anxious and dead quiet. There were other people in the restaurant and they didn't really know what was going on, but they were dead quiet too. Then, I saw pictures of Gabe and myself pop up on KUJH-TV.
It was the most elating feeling in the world. I have never felt like that and I don't think I will ever feel like that again. It was such a release to look around at everyone else in our coalition, and my family, and hearing who else in the room got elected to positions. Gabe and I shared a big hug.
Unfortunately, I was exhausted and sunburned from the week of campaigning, so I crashed pretty early that night. But I can honestly say that as sweet as the taste of victory that night was, the last five months have equaled it. I don't know whether or not I'll go on into politics. I feel so close to this campus. It's big enough that it's a big school but small enough that it's a community. I think everyone should experience something once, and for me, this was the perfect time to do it.
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PASSED BILLS:
Bill 2012-091 to fund the International students Association's Event "Flavors of the World"
Total: $155
Bill 2012-096 to fund the Dance Marathon
Total: $2,563
AGE 3
Bill 2012-094 to fund Spencer Museum of Art Student Advisory Board's World Aids Day Total: $450
- Edited by Sarah Champ
Hopson said that he and other citizens of Douglas and Johnson Counties initially asked the state to install cable barriers along the entire stretch of K-10. However, the group scaled backed their request after KDOT recommended a more economically feasible plan.
Bill 2012-098 to fund Into the Streets
Total: $3,989
Brownback  asking for improved safety measures on the highway.
Bill 2012-102 to fund Environs showing Ingredients, a documentary about the local food movement Total: $285
Following the double-fatality accident last April, Scott Hopson, the Mayor of Eudora, wrote Gov. Sam
Hopson said that he was pleased with the state's choice to provide the
FAILED BILLS:
2012-099 to exempt Engineers Without Boarders from travel expenses
Qualls said that the $800,000 project will install cable barriers two miles east of Eudora, and two miles along the Kansas Highway 7 interchange in Johnson County. KDOT will finance the project, which is expected to begin next summer.
accidents on K-10 have killed 11 people, according to statistics from KDOT. Of the 11 fatalities, eight occurred at locations where KDOT plans to put in the cable barriers, said Kimberly Qualls, the Northeast Kansas public affairs manager for KDOT.
"The installation of the cable median barriers at these two sections is to alleviate vehicles — hopefully — from crossing over the median," she said.
"It couldn't have worked out any better. We had a lot of smart people, a lot of folks who were pas-
cable barriers along the highway.
SEE K-10 ON PAGE 3
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SPORTS 8
SUOOKU 4
contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
Don't forget
Saturday night is the end of daylight saving time. Set your clocks back an hour.
Today's Weather
Forecasts done by University students. For a more detailed forecast see page 2A.
HI: 57
LO: 37
warning up for the weekend
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