Although four seats were filled after last week's special elections, newly elected Communication Sciences and Disorders Senator Mallory Peak-Zdilar resigned shortly before being sworn in.,”The Student Government Association (SGA) nearly had a complete board in place for the first time in two years.

Although four seats were filled after last week's special elections, newly elected Communication Sciences and Disorders Senator Mallory Peak-Zdilar resigned shortly before being sworn in.

Peak-Zdilar, who was elected by a single write-in vote, would have been the first senator for communication sciences and disorders in more than a year and a half.

No students ran for the position during the election, and Peak-Zdilar, a junior communication sciences and disorders major, said she did not know who had voted for her.

Although originally enthusiastic about her unexpected appointment, Peak-Zdilar decided to step down after Tuesday's SGA meeting.

"I will not be able to be the senator for communication disorders during this academic year [due] to time constraints both academic and extracurricular," Peak-Zdilar wrote in an e-mail sent to the SGA on Tuesday. "I would like to apologize for the inconvenience and confusion regarding this matter."

Class of 2007 President Michael Lucey, Class of 2007 Vice President Kevin McKeon and Marketing Senator Tyler Ashley are scheduled to be sworn into office on Tuesday, said Brad Dye, elections commissioner and senior organizational and political communication major.

The positions of the Class of 2007 president and vice president became vacant when the former president, marketing communications major Jamal Barone, resigned.

Lucey, also a marketing communications major, held the office of vice president under Barone and left his own position vacant when he chose to run for president.

Lucey said the efforts of the junior class have improved over the past year.

"We [the Class of '07] are trying to co-sponsor a lot of things, get our name out there and become a force on campus," Lucey said.

Ashley, a marketing communications major, will replace junior marketing communications major Gray Malin, who had been elected to the position last year, but resigned when he went to study abroad at Kasteel Well this semester.

SGA President Kirstin Daniel said she is happy with the results of the election, but said she wished there had been more voter participation. For the four open positions, a total of 141 votes were cast by students eligible to vote.

Only the Class of 2007, marketing communications majors and communication sciences and disorders majors were able to vote in this election.

According to Daniel, one of her goals this year is to create a public relations team to work with Press Secretary John Hanlon and Dye to improve awareness about elections and other SGA events.

"Having a PR team would have helped," Daniel said. "Brad and John can't do everything. [This election] confirms my reason for needing the PR team."

Daniel said the appointments were the result of a combined PR effort from both the organization and the candidates. "It is the SGA's job to promote elections," she said, "and the candidates' job to promote themselves."

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