The Daily Gamecock: What experience makes you qualified for this office?
Ross Lordo: Luckily this year, I had kind of the privilege to be president pro tempore of the senate, so it really let me work directly with the student body vice president, presiding over the senate in his absence, which I've already done twice. Also, it really allowed me to work with the chairs of all the committees. They report directly to me and then I go to the vice president, so I have a lot of experience kind of internally with senate that really nobody else does. The other thing is legislation. The writing process gets very complicated, kind of unnecessarily, but at the same time, legislation's complicated to write, just formatting and whatnot. But I had a lot of experience doing that, [and] wrote the most legislation this year in the senate. And I think one important part of the election is making sure that we elect somebody who has the experience to lead the legislative branch. I think that's very important, but at the same time, also has the experience and connections to do more with the office than what's already being done. I think that's kind of how you progress. Being able to go to the Student Government SEC exchange during the summer, networking with other student governments, meeting with administration directly in my job. The president pro tempore goes to faculty senate, so I've been doing that throughout the year, building relationships with faculty members, the provost, the dean of students ... I'm really excited because I really feel like I understand where we are currently, but I also kind of have a vision for where we need to go.
TDG: If you could accomplish one thing during your term, what would it be?
RL: If I could accomplish one thing I think it's changing the culture that surrounds Student Government. I think there's a lot of animosity and kind of anger towards Student Government and the fact that every year we have all of these things that we say we're going to do, and continuously when we reflect on the year, students say, "Well, that didn't happen. You said this, and it didn't happen." So I think, if anything, I just want to be a candidate or an officer that proves that ideas can come all the way through and we can actually get things done. I mean, part of my thing with the accountability, with getting graded at the end of my term, I truly believe in my platforms, the ability for us to get things done, and they're not just going to be empty promises. Things like visiting five organizations a week, there's no reason why we can't do that ... I think if we can change the culture and we can get people to appreciate our roles and show them that we can do things, that we care about actual student opinions more than just during campaigning season, that's when we can start doing more.
TDG: What inspired you to run for the job?
RL: I think what inspired me was being in the position I have been this year, working really closely with Lee and seeing the impact that he has, the amount of the people that look up to him, the impact he can make. I really see myself as having the ability to leave an impact, make a change, to be a student voice. I've grown up being a Gamecock, both my parents came here, just really have fallen in love with the university. Having the ability to be so involved, to have the opportunities that I've been afforded by being at USC, I think it's been incredible. And I think being an executive in Student Government, it's a way to give back, but also say we're a fantastic university, but we can be even better.
TDG: What food do you think embodies your personality and why?
RL: I would say a food that embodies my personality is probably a watermelon. There's a little bit of a hard shell, able to go through adversity and kind of deal with some of the negative aspects that hit, but at the same time, the inside, it's just so fruity, flavorful, it's just great. I hope that people see me as that ... Probably seedless though. The seeds, they're just probably the worst part about the watermelon.