21 Monday, July 12, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Prospective 'U' student to try for regents bid Boehme looks to bring student voice to Board of Regents By SUZANNE JACOBS Daily StaffReporter While most incoming freshmen wait for classes to begin before get- ting involved on campus, Simon Boehme from Kalamazoo Central High School is looking to break the mold. Boehme, who has yet to reg- ister for his first class, has already begun campaigning this summer to get elected to the University's Board of Regents. Boehme said being elected this November would allow him to serve on the board for his entire four-year undergraduate career rather than just two if he waited to campaign for the next election as a junior. To get his name on the ballot, Boehme said he and his team are try- ing to get the required 30,000 signa- tures through campaigning and his website - simonboehme.com - by the July 15 deadline. With only about 1,000 signatures acquired as of last Thursday, Boehme admitted that they probably won't meet their goal. According to Boehme, he and his campaign team tried to contact members of the Michigan Student Assembly for support but never got a response. "There's no real Ann Arbor sup- port, which I wish there was," he said. Even if he doesn't get on the board this November, Boehme said he is optimistic that he is at least making a statement. "I'm really excited to go to the University of Michigan, and I have a lot to learn and I'm ready to learn and be involved and help make a dif- ference and help to get a student on the Board of Regents, even if it isn't me," he said. Boehme said the inspiration for this campaign came when, as the salutatorian for his senior class in high school, he had the honor of giv- ing his graduation speech in front of President Barack Obam.a - the com- mencement speaker for KCHS this year. In February, President Obama challenged high school students across the country to prove why their high schools represent "the best that our education system has to offer" and agreed to deliver the commence- ment address at the winning school. Boehme said the KCHS principal Von Washington Jr. pulled him out of class one day to discuss the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge, askinghim if he wanted to lead the project. "I don't tell my principal 'no'," Boehme said with a laugh. The campaign began with the submission of many essays, Boehme said, and it ended with the making of a video called "We are the Giants" that the school sent off to the White House, earning them the win. Boehme said he and his classmates received an overwhelming amount of media attention for winning the Commencement Challenge, adding that he had interviewed with the Associated Press, local news stations and the Epoch Times in China. MTV cameras, he said, also followed him around school for a day. "I was there from the beginning," he said, "and it was just something you will never forget." When he found out that KCHS had won the competition and that President Obama would be speak- ing at their graduation, Boehme said he decided to use his speech as an opportunity to tell the president about an idea he had to better con- nect the government with the youth of America. The idea, Boehme said, was for President Obama to create an all- youth council that would give young Americans a much-needed voice in Washington. Boehme added that it was the same idea of connecting young Americans to governing lead- ers that led him to consider cam- paigning to become a University regent. "If I want to be a leader, then I have to lead the way and I have to do this," he said. Boehme said he decided to lead a campaign to "bridge the gap between the Board of Regents and the stu- (The Michigan DAM 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com ANDREW LAPIN BRAD WILEY Editor in Chief Business Manager 734-647-3336 734-764-0558 alapin@umich.edu tmdbusiness@gmail.com CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom Office hours: Sun-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. 734-763-2459 News Tips news@michigandaily.com Corrections corrections@michigandaily.com LetterstotheEditor rothedaily(mihigandaily.com PhotoDepartment photo@michigandaily.com Arts Section artspage@nichian.dily.nom 734-763-0379 EditorialPage opinion@michigandaily.com SportsSection sportstenichigandaiy.m 734-764-8585 Sales dailydisplaycgmail.com ClassifiedSales dailyclassified@gm.com 734-764-0557 Finance tmdfinance@gmail.com EDITORIAL STAFF Ryan Kartje ManagingEditor rk...nje~unm.ich.ed.. EshwarThirunavukkarasu ManagingNewsEditor ethirumieh.edun SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Devon Thorsby HustonSuzanneJacobs Alex Schiff EditorialPage Editor aschiframich. edu SENIOR EDITORIALPAGE EDITOR: Joe Stapleton ASSISTANT EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR: Nick clift Mark Burns ManagingSportsEditor burnmark@umich.edu ASSISTANTSPORTSEDITOR:RyanPodges Sharon Jacobs and EmmalJeszke ManagingArtsEditors shacobs@umich.edur andeaeszde@,unich.edu COURTESY OF SIMON BOEHME Simon Boehme delivers a graduation speech before President Barack Obama at Kalamazoo Central High School. Boehme is campaigning for the University's Board of Regents election. dents" at the University, noting that having someone who is always on campus and immersed in student life involved in the decision-making process would be "something really special." "I find it absolutely ridiculous that with so many bright people around Ann Arbor, there's no (student) on the Board of Regents," he said. Boehme pointed to the student on the University of California at Berke- ley's Board of Regents, highlighting the student reaction to the tuition hikes in California as an example of why it's important for students to have a voice on the board. As someone who is technically not yet a University student, Boehme said he has encountered resistance from some people who believe he is too young to be on the board. "People have actually not signed the petition because of that exact reason," he said. "I don't have all the experience that an upperclassman does, but I have the advantage of being the student voice." Boehme, who said he plans to study political science and possi- bly business, added that he wants to eventually pursue a career in politics. "I don't want to be a career politi- cian or a crooked politician," he said. "As cliche as it may sound, I just want to help people." Coming this week to MichiganDaily.com Regents meeting: Look for Thursday's coverage of the Board of Regents' last meeting of the summer. ........................... Bieber, the brain: Tomasso Pavone thinks the teen sensation is the next Jacques Derrida. 'M' linebackers: Part 2 of 8 in a series previewing the Wolverines at various positions in 2010. -.----.---------.-.-.---.-. Big Boi: The rapper has shed the Outkast identity to release his first real solo CD, Sir Luciou Left Foot Check in online for doily updates lake Froma jsfror...Quml.Sn.. ManagingPhotoEditor KatherineAxelsen ManagingDesignEditor ENIO DI NEDITOR:CoreenDeFever TorehanSharman tsn.rman@umichaedu BUSINESS STAFF Juliannatrim Hillary Szawala Meghan Rooney JasonMahakian Managing Mutim..eia io Layutrnarger P~rductionManager The Michigan DaiB IISSN 0745-9671 is pablished Monday through Friday during the lull and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. 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