According to Volunteer Voice vice presidential candidate Adam Prater, he has heard jokes about his hairstyle his entire life, but it’s other people’s hair that interests the boy once dubbed “Kramer” by friends and family.

“I like to hunt mullets,” Prater said. “You know the hairstyle, short in the front, long in the back.”

As a hobby, the junior from Memphis takes pictures of the ’70s hairstyle, for which he then puts on what he calls his “mulleten board.”

Photography is only one hobby for the biomedical engineering major. Prater served on the Student Senate his sophomore year and then as SGA Historian in 2002.

He said he feels confident he could serve the position of vice president.

“You just deal with students on a daily basis,” he said. “A lot of it is just keeping people motivated about their positions … I want to do that.”

Prater said most of his motivation to run came from former SGA president Bradford Bricken. The two were fraternity brothers, and the former student government leader’s influence provoked Prater to become more interested in student activities.

Prater said it is those activities that are the strength of the campus.

“If you look at all the campus projects, there’s always something going on here,” he said.

Part of Prater’s platform is to get SGA more involved with student groups. He said SGA should not only listen to student concerns, but be supportive on their projects and activities.

Prater said he hopes to combat student apathy with SGA by listening to student concerns.

“Election time is really the last time you ever see (political parties),” he said. “They give you the reasons why you should vote for them, and then, once they’re elected, they never go back.

“I think that’s the biggest thing I could do is go back and listen to students.”

Another part of Volunteer Voice’s platform includes taking student concerns directly to administrators, Prater said.

“Look at construction projects,” he said. “We don’t really get to decide what’s going to happen … We should have more of a voice in how (the campus) is shaped.”

Prater said his combination of work ethic and listening should propel him past the other candidates.

“I have a good mix of hard work and being able to connect with people,” he said. “I also have that ability to listen to people … A lot of times, people in leadership positions lose touch with the people they work with because they don’t listen.”

On election days, Prater said he feels his skills will attract voters, but if not, that’s more time for mullet hunting.