This week’s fresh coat of chalk on the Brickyard is evidence that the fall 2013 freshmen Student Senate election campaigns are in full swing. 

Twenty-three first-year students are competing for 10 seats in the Senate. This election will also include a referendum vote for the Senate vice president, which makes every N.C. State student eligible to vote in the elections on Sept. 25 and 26.

Carson Shepherd , a Senator in charge of advertising, said he encourages students to vote because of the direct impact Student Government has on N.C. State.  

 “We have the student body president acting as the student voice on the board of trustees, the [student body president] and [student senate president] serve on the Fees and Tuition Decision committee, and they vote exactly as the Senate wishes them to,” Shepherd said 

Each candidate has a different set of goals he or she wants to achieve while in office. 

Ben Stockdale, a freshman in political science, wants to develop a new roommate-matching system for students living in dorms and work on communication between freshmen and the University. 

 “I think especially for freshmen it’s hard to figure out what’s going on a lot of the time,” Stockdale said. “I feel like a lot of times we’re kind of left in the dark and find out things after they have happened, so I want to help students figure out what’s going on.”

Rachel Livingston, a freshman in political science, said her platform is about encour

aging more eco-friendly projects on campus. 

“I feel like it is a direction that a lot of students really want to move towards,” Livingston said.

While candidates like Livingston and Stockdale are campaigning with specific platforms, others are spending more time with the campaign itself. 

“The number one goal right now is to just get my name out there,” said Paul Nolan, a freshman in engineering. “I created a website, and I actually just created a Twitter like five minutes ago for the first time in my life to promote my Senate campaign.”

Social media is a becoming an increasingly popular method for student campaigns. Shepherd said that she has personally spread the word about voting in various places on Facebook, such as the Wolfpack Students group and the pages for the graduating classes of 2014, ‘15, ‘16 and ’17.

Even with the increase of Internet campaigns, candidates have plenty of ideas on how to reach students without a strong presence in social media. 

“I am definitely going to put up flyers and I am hoping to do chalk artwork,” Livingston said. “I will also try to do the free expression tunnel if I can learn how to spray paint.”

Because of the referendum vote between two graduate students for senate vice president, every student will be eligible to vote when polls open on Sept. 25 at noon. Polls will be open until Sept. 26 at 11:59 a.m. 

Students will receive an email when it comes time to vote online with information about the procedure. Students will will also be able to vote at a  polling location at the Student Involvement shack on the Brickyard, during Shack-A-Thon. 

“When you elect someone as your student senator, they serve as your voice to campus administrators that make the very important decisions that govern the university,” Shepherd said. “When a student votes, they’re actively participating in positively influencing policy, events, and very important things around the campus.”