ELECTIONS!

It is election time again! So, if you don't want to be an irrational voter with a crazy bias, please go through our candidates bios and plans for the Society in the upcoming year.

To run for candidacy you must have attended 3+ events or meetings in the past year. To vote, please show up on Wednesday April 30th in Enterprise 318 at 6pm. (If you cannot attend, but you are an active member and want to cast a vote, you can e-mail us and we can arrange it).

This is also a time for fresh ideas and suggestions/commentaries. Remember you do not need to be an officer to get involved!

Running for the Executive Board:
Kevin Burke
Kevin Hilferty
Michael Jenkins
Liya Palagashvili
Meg Patrick
Daniel Rivera

Click on READ MORE to go over the jump and view the bios of some of those running for office.

Kevin Hilferty:
My name is Kevin Hilferty, and I would like to run for President of the George Mason Economics Society for the 2008-2009 term. I believe I am a strong candidate for this position because of my love for Economics and leadership I acquired in helping plan the last events of this semester with President Astrid Arca. Since I was a junior in H.S. taking Intro Economics to AP Economics my senior year, and now pursuing a BA here at Mason my love for this subject has only grown. I feel extremely lucky to be able to study in a program that features two Nobel prizes and many of the world's top free-market thinkers. My goal if I become President is to continue to make the students in the Economics program aware of the many opportunities available to them at this great university. With so many great professors to learn from, ground-breaking research to be involved in, and a wide community of like-minded students, I believe that every student at George Mason should know what Mason really has to offer. Through increased programs, events, and marketing we can better disperse this knowledge to the Mason student. I have already begun preliminary planning of many events including the fall welcome social, debates, book events, and a new event specifically for freshman students that would introduce them to Masonomics. I have been studying the guidelines for budgets, spending, and requirements of Student Organizations and I am prepared for the bureaucratic challenges that we will face. I have recently gone over the past records of the GMU Economics Society and have had mentoring from past President Jaime Artieda and current President Astrid Arca Leigh. With my experience and motivation I hope to hit the ground running and I promise to do my best for the Econ Society.

Michael Jenkins:
I have held a fair amount of leadership positions over time, including

1. PR chairman of TKE
2. MQB board of TKE (this is a tribunal, I hear cases and recommend punishments/actions)
3. Member of Philanthropy committee TKE

In addition, I also have held management positions
Manager at Noodles and Company on Main Street
I have a very sincere interest in economics and spreading the views of economists and righting misconceptions about economics is something I believe to be very important. The economics society can not only serve to create connections and hold economic events, it can also spread basic principles of economics to the student body at large. Educating the student body on basic economics in fields like welfare, minimum wage, labor unions, regulation/price control, and the U.S. economy in general will help them to make smart decisions in the future. If given office, I fully intend to create a larger, more involved Economics society that can benefit both its members and the entire student body.

Liya Palagashvili:
My name is Liya, and I would like to run for Vice-President of the George Mason University Economics Society for the 2008-2009 school year. I believe I would be a dynamic candidate for this position because of my great interest for Economics, my experience both as a leader and a member of the Economics Society, and my commitment to the society. My interest in Economics first developed when I took a Political Economics and AP Economics class in high school where I learned the fundamentals of Economics and became passionate about it. Because of my interest for Economics, I decided to attend GMU, and I am currently pursing a Bachelor of the Science degree in Economics with a minor in Statistics.
As a member of the Economics Society, I have worked with President Astrid Arca, past President Jaime Artieda, running-President Kevin Hilferty and Student Liaison Ian Dunois. I have helped plan recent events with the Econ Society such as the FEE seminar at Mason and Daniel J. D'Amico's lecture on the Political Economy of Prisons which is coming up this Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Enterprise 80. Also, I have already worked on creating plans for the fall semester events with Kevin Hilferty. Furthermore, I have shown great commitment to the Econ Society by showing up to many of the events and meetings, and I will further commit myself to the Econ society as my education at Mason continues. My vision for the Econ Society is to promote the study of Economics and Liberty to the George Mason community. Whether students are Econ majors, minors, or just have an interest in Economics, I would like them all to know the great opportunities available to them at GMU. There are many Economics major who have never even heard of the Economics Society, and one of my goals is to make the Economics Society known to not only Econ majors, but also the other majors as well.