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Get to Know Your Student Government: President Richard Fortman

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Get to Know Your Student Government: President Richard Fortman

Richard Fortman, 27, Roseville, Petroleum EngineeringRichardASNIC President

Favorite Color: You know what? It’s always a toss-up. I go between red, purple, and green. […] But if we have to nail it on the head, we’ll go with purple.

Favorite Movie: I like movies like “Revolver,” and “Oldboy.” Super deep. But my favorite movie that I always go back to is “Team America,” which is vulgar, uncouthly–it’s a crazy movie and I love it because it’s funny and it pokes fun at everyone. […] It makes light of all of our differences.

How NIC should look a year after leaving student government: That’s a great question because a lot of things I’m gonna be working on this year won’t be effective until another year goes by. Primarily one of the biggest ones is parking. There’s three big things with parking:

  1. Getting rid of reserved parking.
  2. Having students be able to buy parking permits through their financial aid.
  3. Have a flat rate across campus for parking, and having further areas out by Parking Lot A be free.

Another thing would be a full rendering of architecture, area, and fee for a recreational center—we don’t want to just ask the board of trustees, because we’ve been doing that for the last three years. We’re just going to say, ”this is what we’re doing.” We’re not gonna ask for permission anymore, the students have already voiced that they want it multiple times, and they’re willing to pay for it, so I don’t know why we’re asking to tax ourselves for something we want to do. And the thing that would help students the most is to figure out where we derive power from: right now there’s no policy saying we have power or a structured say.

Inspiration to join student government: A Way-To-Go Wednesday booth that we had; I was walking by and I saw a senator application, and Josh Swan and another fellow filled me in, and I said: “why not me?” When I decided to go back to school I told myself I was gonna be the best person I can be and give back to the community as much as it has given to me, and so that’s when I became a senator. President? It was funny, in that same mentality when I first started I just sort of told myself I was going to be President–jokingly at first–but then I saw that there was a legitimate opportunity and public speaking was the only reason I was not considering doing it. But I saw that there was a need for someone to be well-informed, and this is an opportunity to make a difference. And I just like making a difference. Why not? It was during our formal dance night last semester, nobody endorsed me, but then Graydon Stanley is really what pushed me over the edge. If someone I admired told me I could do it, I could do it.

Celebrity Crush: Yeah, who is my celebrity crush? As a kid it was Jessica Rabbit. I didn’t even know what anything was as a child, but I was like: “She’s hot.” And she’s a cartoon character, whatever; it’s like the best of both worlds as a child. As an adult, I’d have to peruse. But just to give you something for the fun facts: Christina Hendricks of “Mad Men.”

Favorite Band/Music: I always say Led Zeppelin. I love Led Zeppelin. I’ve been kind of listening to The Sword lately, they’re just a different kind of band. I literally listen to everything though: rap, rock, country, opera. I go to musicals, I enjoy life, and part of life is expression and some of that is through music.

If A.I. could equal our free will and chose to take action against our society, would it be OK to press a button turning them off: It would depend on their reasons and whether or not they were a threat to us. For self-preservation purposes: it is circuitry. I’d switch it off. In the end, by all means I would never want to see someone die unjustly because of something that we created. And you know what? That might change some day after something that I learn, but knee-jerk reaction: yeah, I would pull the plug.

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T.J. Gossard is The Sentinel student newspaper's Features assistant editor, and is also the president of NIC Film Club and NIC's Phi Theta Kappa Delta Kappa Chapter. Gossard intends to become a film director and is currently practicing skills of communication and multitasking by taking on club duties and pursuing an A.A. in Communications at North Idaho College.

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