Oshkosh Student Association to hold elections for administrators and senators

UW-O students will be able to vote for the new president, vice-president and senators of the Oshkosh Student Association on March 16 and 17.

OSA is made up of elected leaders and representatives from other clubs and organizations who gather to discuss the events and issues going on at Oshkosh.

Students can participate in the election by using voting booths that will be set up in Reeve Memorial Union and Blackhawk Commons. They can also vote on their home computers by logging on to the voting Web site using their school user name.

Current OSA President Thomas Wolf thinka that these elections will influence every student at Oshkosh.

"OSA is the voice of the school," Wolf said. "It's every student's responsibility to vote."

Alex Abendschein, current vice president of OSA, agrees that the upcoming elections will affect the school.

"[OSA] provides an opportunity to build a connection with the school," Abendschein said. "We voice the issues of the students."

Some examples Abendschein gave of how OSA has dealt with student issues in the past including representing minority groups, battling the costs of textbooks and creating a professional relationship with the campus administration.

He cited how he and other OSA members helped Oshkosh receive a $300,000 grant in October for an e-textbook program, which will help drastically reduce the price of school textbooks.

"We do what we can to fight for our students," Abendschein said.

This year Wolf and Abendschein will not be seeking re-election, as both are graduating this year.

Abendschein plans on going to graduate school out of state to pursue a master's degree in higher education.

Abendschein has been a part of OSA for the past few years. Besides being the vice-president, he has also been a senator. He sees his departure of OSA as a bittersweet moment.