Campaigns Launch for USC Student Body President

The Undergraduate Student Government elections kicked off around midnight on Monday, marking the beginning of campaigns as candidates begin posting signs and posters around campus.

This year's ballot contains two presidential tickets.

The two presidential candidates are USG Senate speaker Matthew George Arkfeld who is running with Greek senator Alexander Cascante, and Christian Kurth, the USG Director of University Affairs, who is running with Greek senator Ryan Park.

According to their official website, Arkfeld and Cascante's platform will focus on the reduction of internal USG spending and reallocate savings to student organizations. The two also plan to help students save money by expanding tuition to cover 20 units rather than the current 18 units.

Student feedback is a major platform of the campaign, and the team plans to organize town hall meetings with USC students and administrators.

Christian Kursh and Ryan Park's platform will focus on making services more accessible to students through new or renovated mobile apps for myUSC and Campus Cruiser similar to apps like TaxiMagic. The Kurth-Park duo also seeks to make improvements to The Greek Row by repaving sidewalks and providing late-night food truck services.

Safety, sustainability, and reducing student stress are priorities for both campaigns, as each are proposing a two to three day fall break and raising awareness about safety efforts.

Along with posting signs across campus, both campaigns are taking their platforms to the web. The Arkfeld campaign has launched an official website, and the Kurth campaign is driving info through their Facebook page.

The student body will have the opportunity to hear the candidates defend their platforms at several campaign events this week including a forum on diversity Monday at 6 p.m. and an official debate on Wednesday. Official elections will commence February 12-14.