There's definitely cynicism about it. Many students see student government as people who try to do everything but don't relate to the student body. That's one thing Vice President Christie Larson and I have tried to change. We are a group of people that tries to do everything, but we do it for you. And whether you agree with all of our decisions, that's not the point. We are trying to make your St. Olaf experience the best it can be.

An effective student body president is there to nudge people along in student senate — not necessarily being the focal point but helping others excel and be in the spotlight. Too many times a president feels: "Well, I'm the president. I have to be the spokesperson for everybody and everything." And you can't do that. You have to limit yourself.

Certain issues come up that the student body feels very strongly about, and it's the job of student government to discuss those with the Northfield community. One example is the School Nature Area Project, which people know as SNAP, and the road that was possibly going to go through the middle of those lands to get to the new hospital. The student government played an instrumental role in changing that. There was such an outcry on campus, and the student government really did take up arms and go to the Northfield City Council and say, "Please change this! We value those nature preserves more than you will ever know."

Definitely. The president is expected to speak to alumni, the Board of Regents, prospective students and other groups on campus. Throughout my years at St. Olaf, I've tried to do as much speaking as I can to get ready for this. I was a tour guide with Admissions for the past three years. That's helped me get comfortable meeting different groups of people and being able to talk to them as openly as I would with you.

It's given me a lot of perspective. I am able to see the campus from a different light. I see what St. Olaf truly is as opposed to a student who isn't involved in anything. I am able to see St. Olaf as a place that gives and gives, and then gives more. It isn't just a place to fly through and get a degree, but it's a place to learn who you are as an individual in this world. The person I was in high school is very different from the person I am now. St. Olaf has given me that, and student government has given me that. I am a leader and I know how to do it.

The first year, I helped with my residence hall council, and then sophomore year, they needed a president of Mellby Hall, where I was living. I was very involved with that. Then I ran for student activities committee and won, so I was the SAC coordinator last year. Next I talked to Christie Larson, a good friend of mine, and we decided to run for president and vice president. And luckily enough, we won!

We ran on the platform of "bigger and better" — and that includes bridging the gap between the student body and the Student Government Association (SGA). The student body has a general feeling about what's going on — and what's going wrong — but the SGA hasn't always known how to tap into that and figure out what needs to happen.

We work for the students, and so we wanted to make sure they knew we were here. We wanted a more visible role on campus.

I think so. A number of the issues that have been brought to the student senate have opened students' eyes to what student government can do. I've been passionate about some issues, like the resolution against war with Iraq.

The drinking policy is always one that students want to re-examine. St. Olaf is a dry campus, and many students feel that leads to a closet alcohol policy —that students just drink in their dorm rooms. So many students would like to see it changed to a wet campus. I'm very much against it. The dry campus rule plays an instrumental role in what St. Olaf is. Plus, about three-fourths of the student body is under 21, so there really isn't a reason for it to be a wet campus. There shouldn't be drinking, and it helps us become good citizens to avoid alcohol.

Parking is a big issue. Generally, students cannot have cars unless they work a certain number of hours in town or off campus. Many students are now trying to get jobs so they can have a car, and a lot of students just feel they need a car. You also can have a car in storage if you live more than about 200 miles away.

There are students who live in the Twin Cities who feel they should be able to go home whenever they feel like it and so therefore want a car on campus. But it is just not logical. The campus is too small. And especially during the week, when we have all of the faculty and staff cars on campus, there's no parking available on the Hill.

President [Christopher M.] Thomforde has been great in increasing the level of communication between the president's office and the student body. He's such a figure on campus. He's so tall, no one can miss him to begin with, but he's an open person who is willing to talk to anybody on campus — meet, greet and know names. We want to continue helping him be visible on campus and have the administration be more visible as well.

One great thing last year was the open forum with the Board of Regents student committee. Karin Sharpe, this year's Board of Regents observer, is working hard to give visibility to the Board of Regents. I think many students on campus see the Board of Regents as this overlord figure. No one really knows who's on it. The Board of Regents needs to gain a face.

It is difficult at times. Being a member of the St. Olaf Choir helps me maintain balance. Every day I have 90 minutes in my schedule where that's all I can do. And so it's a time for me to leave the presidency at the door, take out my choir music and sort of detox from student government. That's one thing Dr. [Anton] Armstrong talks about — you need to leave your problems at the door. We're here for choir, and we're here to make music and preach St. Olaf to the world. That's the best thing I could have done, to stay in the St. Olaf Choir through these two years.

At the same time, I wouldn't be in student government if I didn't love what I am doing. It's not necessarily a job for me. It's a time to give back to St. Olaf all that I've been given. That also helps me stay balanced when the demands are great.

Once I got on campus and saw how much the president was doing and how instrumental a role the student government could play, I knew that I wanted to be leading it.

It's funny to look back on that. Three years ago, I was packing my car, saying goodbye to my friends, just bawling hysterically because I thought I was never going to see my high school friends again. I thought I'd come to St. Olaf and I wouldn't know anybody, and I was going to be this nobody. It's funny how everything worked out.

It's definitely challenging. But that's another reason why I needed to come to St. Olaf. Too many times in high school, I did my homework and didn't really get anything out of it. That's a common experience for many St. Olaf students — that you already knew a lot of the material in high school. At St. Olaf I have been continually challenged by the professors and my peers and by what I'm learning — inside and outside of the classroom.

You were in Israel last summer with other student body presidents.

I went on a trip through Project Interchange, which is an institute of the American Jewish Committee. They have about 15 seminars each year that take leaders from America to Israel to examine the Middle East conflict. My seminar included 12 college and university study body presidents from the Midwest and West.

We had about eight days in Israel talking to different professors, community leaders, newspaper editors, government officials and army officials, and trying to take in as much as we could about what the conflict really is. Across the United States there is a rising trend of anti-Semitism on university campuses. And this is one way the American Jewish Committee is trying to combat that, by sending the future leaders of America to Israel to truly understand what the conflict is, as opposed to the American media's perception of what is going on.

The morning we left, from New York City, the bombing at Hebrew University took place. Five Americans and two Israelis were killed. But once I got there I never felt afraid. We had an armed guard with us at all times. Our meetings were in a secure office building or in the hotel. We had one bus for the entire trip, and no one besides us got near the bus.

St. Olaf is very lucky. We don't really have the anti-Semitism that many of the larger state schools have.

Yes, we have less diversity. But we do have other intolerance on campus, and so I'm trying to tie in what I learned in Israel to the other intolerance here.

During my first two years on campus, after "Coming Out Week," there were a number of anti-gay chalkings. It was the first sort of sign of intolerance that I saw on campus. I think intolerance is more visible at the larger state schools. I don't want to say intolerance is closeted at St. Olaf, but it's definitely less visible. And that's good, because while it may exist, it doesn't need to be in everybody's face.

That goes back to the RICH statement, which was adopted about six years ago as a mission statement for the student body: Respect, Integrity, Celebration, Honesty. We affirmed that again this year. You respect each other's beliefs, whether or not they coincide with yours.

What do you plan to do with a music and management degree?

I was a vocal performance major for a long time. I didn't necessarily lose my fire for music, but I sort of gained a different fire. I realized that I don't necessarily want to be on stage - that I want to do more backstage work helping get everything ready. I watched what Bob Johnson, the Music Organizations manager, was doing in lining up tours and working with the St. Olaf Choir, and I thought I would really enjoy that.

As a performer, you also risk being poor, just not earning enough.