A ram, a bulldog and a pack of wolves.

James Hankins decided his college future by choosing the most ferocious of these three mascots.

Fortunately for the Wolfpack, Hankins said he has put much more thought into his decision to run for Student Senate president.

“My original goal was to run for my Senate seat again, but I had a lot of senators and students approach me and ask me what position I was running for,” Hankins said. “I realized I had support, but the real reason I chose to run for Student Senate president was that I saw the way Senate was being run and thought I was the best candidate to make Senate more focused and goal oriented.”

“It’s time that we have a Student Senate president that says this is what we are going to achieve this year and this is how we are going to do it.”

The goal-driven Hankins said the hardest test will be challenging preconceived notions concerning Student Senate’s productivity.

“The biggest obstacles to overcome are the perceptions people have about Senate. I hear Student Senate is a joke all the time,” Hankins said.

Hankins said, as Student Senate president, he would hold senators accountable.

“We have to have student senators who have goals,” Hankins said. “As Senate president I would want every senator to commit to a goal at the beginning of the year and sign off on it.”

The rising junior in political science with a teaching concentration said internal conflicts were damaging the Senate.

“Students should be fighting for the same issues, fighting the right issues like tuition increases and overcrowded classes,” Hankins said. “Basically I just want to make us focused.”

Hankins also said Student Government needed to increase interaction with the city.

“We rarely interact with the General Assembly,” Hankins said. “We need to tell them we want Hillsborough Street fixed, and we want the Brent Road Party and we want our traditions back.”

Hankins said his site, VoteHankins.com, is under construction.