Student Elections Heat Up In Residence Hall

By Greg Van Buskirk

Today is the final day of voting in the 1300 Residence Hall Association! The building is teaming with excitement as candidates campaign for the final votes that could change the outcome of the election. The eager young politicians have patrolled 1300, introducing themselves, explaining their ambitions, and obviously offering baked goods and candy to their fellow residents.

The presidential race is the most competitive election with 5 candidates chasing the position: Madison Peschen, Julia Ostrovsky, Bridget Warlea, and brothers Kevin and Kenneth Woodring.

This afternoon I sat down with the younger of the Woodring brothers, Kevin, a freshman engineering major who hopes to improve the social scene of 1300 if he is elected.

“Right now I have some small ideas, like weekly events for the building,” Woodring said. “Like a ping pong or pool tournament in the 3rd floor game room and movie nights in the 1st floor lounge. Small things like that to help everyone get to know each other in the beginning of the school year.”

The Southampton, PA native has had little experience in politics before, but sees this is an opportunity to serve his neighbors and make the most of his first year at Temple.

“I thought it would be a good way to try something new,” explained Woodring. “And what better way to make sure that you have the best freshman year possible than to be in the mix of all the big decisions for your building?”

Kevin Woodring plans to bring the energy he is usually putting into Ultimate Frisbee and intramural soccer into the 1300 RHA if he wins the presidential race. An essential role in any efficient government is that of the Public Relations department. 3 individuals are in the hunt to become the 1300 Public Relations Representative: Lulu Peach, Tosin Ojo, and Viral Shah.

Freshman neuroscience major Lulu Peach took time out of her busy campaigning schedule to sit down for an interview. Peach believes that she is rather qualified for the position as Public Relations Representative based on her experience in high school.

“I worked as a publicist for a big organization in my high school and I have a lot of experience doing PR and graphic design.” Peach explained. “I did a lot of t-shirt design, flyers and posters, and I had a Twitter account.”

Peach, fresh out of Ardmore, PA, would love to use her creativity and past experience to bring 1300 to life.

“I was thinking about fun things on social media that we could do,” said Peach. “Maybe also doing t-shirt designs and having t-shirts for the different floors in 1300 and then having a competition with everyone; that would be fun.”

Peach and Woodring are both optimistic about the election, but agree that regardless of the results they enjoyed campaigning.

“Even if I don’t win, it’s just been fun campaigning, meeting the other candidates, being goofy,” Peach said through a huge smile. “So even if we don’t win, we still made a lot of friends along the way. I’ve had a lot of fun just walking around, knocking on doors, and seeing people I’ve only seen but never really gotten to talk to.”

Voting closes at 11:45 tonight. Cast your vote at the following link:

https://sites.temple.edu/rhatemple/