M SU’s undergraduate student government elected Lyman Briggs College Representative James Conwell to serve as president this past Wednesday.

C onwell has been a part of ASMSU since the end of his freshman year at MSU . P rior to his involvement with student government at the university level, served as senior class president at his high school.

The State News: What prompted you to join ASMSU in the first place?

James Conwell: It came from the idea that I wanted to make a difference on my campus. ... I knew the student body wanted different things (than what were offered) and I said if someone’s going to fix it, I would like to be that person myself. I’d like to make the difference.

SN: What inspired you to run for president?

JC: I thought we had an opportunity to really do something great with ASMSU. I think there’s a lot of projects that we’ve been talking about the past few years ... or different ventures in terms of advocacy. Instead of offering some new service, I wanted to really ... make all the ones that we have in existence better and ... provide value for undergraduate students in terms of their taxes as well as the advocacy work that we do for the city as well as the university.

SN: What do you think the student body is asking of ASMSU?

JC: I think they are asking us to do good work on their behalf. I think they want us to go and work on policies that would make their lives better. ... So they’re asking us to be the best organization we can, and that’s my goal: to be the best organization we can and one that communicates well with the student body.

SN: What do you think will be the most important thing for ASMSU to do to get the student body’s attention?

JC: It’s go to them. It’s just go to the student body, make sure that they know who we are and ask them what they want us to do. That’s really the best way to connect to the student body is to talk to them.

SN: What are you most looking forward to working on in the coming school year?

JC: Constituent outreach is really one of my biggest priorities and the other one is to make sure the projects we have (safe ride, bike share, etc.) go up so they can become a success. I’m just excited to ... continue all the projects and make sure they’re a success.

SN: Why did you decide to take more of a political approach?

JC: I wouldn’t (say it’s) political ... the one thing I want to do is (communicate) with other groups that can help us along the way with the different projects we undergo. ... If we go to the administration and say ‘How can we do this program?’ we can figure it out from there. In terms of the legislation ... I think that as the undergraduate student government, it’s our job to advocate for different policies that can make life better for our constituents.

SN: What kinds of policies or legislations that pertain to students are you going to address during your term?

JC: I think perfect examples are the mid-semester (course) evaluations ... and there’s the professional interview (absence) policy and mental health awareness are the three big (issues) I want to pursue. ... My goal is to continue those and make them a success ... when I meet with representatives and vice presidents, I want to see what else they’d like to do.

I mentioned in my speech how I wanted (ASMSU) to work on the 2014 elections and get students involved in the community in which they live. It’s really once again that communicating and meeting with different people to figure out how really we can make a difference.