By Brian Bohl

By Brian BohlStaff Writer

The first full Student Government Association meeting of the academic year is usually a mundane affair marked by rudimentary procedures and bureaucratic motions. But there was intrigue at the end of Tuesday’s agenda, as the senate selected Russell Akiyama to be the new vice president during a special election.The Aug. 2 resignation of Simon Duncanson created the vacancy. Duncanson teamed with Pete DiSilvio for a landslide victory in May’s SGA presidential election. Two months after being part of the ticket that received a record 751 votes, Duncanson left the University for personal reasons, opening up a spot for Akiyama.Akiyama, a junior political science major, received the support of 66 percent of the 26 senators, giving him a first-ballot victory over five opponents, including two SGA justices. He was sworn into office on the steps of the Student Center Greenhouse moments after his vote was ratified, and said he was eager to serve in his new capacity.”Initially, I had a lot of apprehension, because I know how hard everyone worked to get elected last semester,” Akiyama said. “Once I heard that I was elected, it switched from being apprehensive to ‘alright, time to get work done.'”Each of the six candidates had to be nominated by a senator and seconded. They were then given three minutes to speak about their qualifications before the senate, which had perfect attendance. Akiyama received a plurality of the votes, leaving no need for a runoff election.”It adds a tremendous amount of weight, respect and legitimacy to him,” DiSilvio said about the margin of victory. “I think it illustrates very clearly that the system works and that the senate is happy with it. Nobody abstained out of disgust for the system.”One of the senators nominated was Rules Committee Chairwoman Lisa Giunta, who has worked closely with both Duncanson and Akiyama. The SGA is headed in the right direction with the moves made at the first meeting, Giunta said. Though running for vice president was not one of her immediate ambitions, she said it was a good way to honor the ideas and goals of her former colleague.”It’s hard to do in general, we can’t really replace Simon, but I think Russell is going to do a great job too,” stated Giunta, who also said the defeat will not have any lingering affect. “I’ve been a senator for over two years, as long as you’re giving effort, you should be fine.”With a new academic year underway, Akiyama and DiSilvio will not have the usual luxury of a summer recess to get comfortable working together. Both professed to have short and long-term goals they want to address in upcoming meetings, with commuter concerns and student morale being top priorities. “I know there are some plans to improve parking, possibly around where the new dorms are being built,” Akiyama said. “We are also possibly looking at shuttles from different spots on campus. I really don’t have any definitive things, but we would like to get the ball rolling soon.”Commuter complaints about the parking situation are nothing new, but logistics have made the problem difficult to rectify. The addition of a new academic building on the south side of campus prevented the University from creating more parking in that vicinity.The new vice president added that intangible items will also be addressed, though the California native admitted those plans are much more ambitious.”As far as campus negativity, I want it to be gone basically,” said Akiyama, who joined the SGA in the spring of his freshman year. “I don’t necessarily expect the problems to be completely gone by the time I leave the University, but to be a student at Hofstra, some people aren’t as happy as they should be. I feel if I can find my niche on campus here, anybody can. I want to maximize the opportunity for students to find their place.”