An outspoken Student Association senator and Women’s Alliance member announced she will run for SA president.

Sen. Kelly Marie McDonald handed in a petition of at least 400 signatures to put her name on the ballot for the March 26-27 SA executive elections.

McDonald said she thinks running for president is a “no lose situation” because no matter what happens, she will still stay with the senate.

She said she wants the SA to become an active part of the Illinois Student Association—a statewide student group. This depends on whether NIU students decide to keep NIU in the ISA in a March referendum.

Her goals also include working on keeping tuition low and making more office space for student organizations in the Holmes Student Center.

“It (office space) is just starting to be in the works. The whole idea may go down the tubes without funding,” she said.

Last year, McDonald entered a public debate over the content of the DeKalb Nite Weekly.

She was part of a petition drive by NIU’s Women’s Alliance to discourage the public and advertisers from supporting the paper.

She said the paper, which prints pictures of female models, is sexist and demeans women.

McDonald said, however, she does not want her past to cloud the issues for the election.

“I’m afraid people are going to focus on me as an individual rather than on the job that I am doing. There is going to be ample opportunity to question what I have done and what I plan to do.

“The things I believe in, my ideals and my values, shape the person I am. It was my choice to have these values,” McDonald said.

She said she supports equal rights for all regardless of race or sexual preference. She is also a supporter of animal rights along with being a vegetarian.

McDonald also said she does not want people to think that because of her liberal views, she will not compromise.

“Having a very strong liberal opinion might be a weakness to some people, but I believe it is tempered by having a variety of diverse views with the staff and senate,” she said.