Four Student Senate tickets will be vying for Senate control

Four tickets will be competing for control of Student Senate the 2015-16 school year, according to a Student Senate Board of Elections announcement.The tickets, BARE, Phoenix, Serving Our Students (SOS) and Student Nation, will have 14 days to campaign before elections occur on April 14-16, with campaigning starting on March 31 at 7 a.m. The first debate will be held on April 1 at 5:30 p.m. in Porter 105.BARE, a 31-person ticket, is headed by presidential candidate Ryant Taylor. Taylor, a senior studying english, is a well-known campus activist that is the current LGBTQA Affairs Commissioner, an Ohio University Student Union member and one of the founding members of racial discussion organization New BLAC. Olivia Wallace, a junior visual anthropology major, the current Environmental Affairs co-chair and another New BLAC founding member, is the ticket’s vice presidential candidate.Phoenix, a 33-person ticket, is headed by presidential candidate Anthony Piccioni, who goes by Tony. Piccioni, a junior sports administration major, is the Ohio University fellow for Young America, a non-profit organization run by GenFKD that simplifies and publishes on economic policy for “Generation Y” people. The ticket also includes vice presidential candidate Emily Ginty, a junior journalism major, and treasurer candidate Mackenna Myers, a junior marketing and management & strategic leadership major.  None of the 31 members of the Phoenix ticket are members of Senate.Serving Our Students (SOS), a full 34-person ticket, is headed by presidential candidate Gabby Bacha. Bacha, a junior political science major, is currently a South Green senator and the most prominent dissenting voice in Senate. She is joined by vice presidential candidate Jared Ohnsman, a junior criminology and pre-law major, and treasurer candidate Hannah Clouser, a junior mathematics major and current SAC senator.Student Nation, an executive-only ticket with three members, is headed by presidential candidate Ben Mathes. Mathes, a junior political science major, is the current Governmental Affairs commissioner and the advocacy director for Ohio University Students for Education Reform. He has spent a considerable amount of time at the Ohio Statehouse on both university and Senate delegations. He is joined by vice presidential candidate Ellenore Holbrook, a sophomore political science major and a current SAC senator, and treasurer candidate Charlotte Klimovich, a sophomore studying veterinary medicine and the current SAC vice commissioner.Current Senate Vice President Caitlyn McDaniel said during the March 25 meeting that there had been disqualifications prior to the deadline to submit ticket applications if the tickets but didn’t say or allude to what tickets or possible tickets they referred to.