President: David Shadburn
Only one presidential candidate this year seems to have enough knowledge about the issues to realistically change SG: David Shadburn.
Shadburn is a breath of fresh air. He is an outsider, which has many downsides when working with the SG community. But out of all the candidates, Shadburn showed the most potential to bring serious change to the current dysfunctional student organization.
He had enough conviction to stay out of the drama, but enough patience to listen to questions asked of him. He had a realistic perception of what he could get done during his term as well as a vision of dramatic, long-term change.
With tuition, Shadburn understands that there are limitations to what can be done now that the budget is set for the next two years. He promises to focus on student debt by creating programs for students to manage their debt beginning in freshman year.
Overall, Shadburn has guts. It takes courage to be a newcomer to SG and have enough of a backbone to stand up for yourself. We were impressed by Shadburn's ability to answer tough questions on the spot when we interviewed him, and we believe that he will be able to firmly address the change that needs to happen within SG.
Vice President: Julia Reinstein
Although both candidates for vice president had new ideas for the position, we believe that Julia Reinstein demonstrated knowledge of what the role of vice president entails that her opponent lacked.
Reinstein's creative energy and honesty were impressive. She had many good ideas, such as hosting mechanical sharks on the quad, laser tag events, ticketing at night for Founders' Day, food truck festivals on the Quad and more. We were impressed by the quantity of ideas and how much energy she had about them. Reinstein will bring a fun, enthusiastic energy to SG.
Comptroller: Ben Johnson
Finally, SG has some competition for comptroller.
Johnson is not the typical SG candidate. But with such a dysfunctional SG, students need dramatic change.
We admire Johnson's go-getter attitude. Unlike many of the policy wonks that run for the SG executive board, Johnson simply wants to get things done. He explained how he is willing to pull all-nighters on behalf of the students, and how for every event, he would be distributing flyers outside of Mary Graydon Center.
Most importantly, Johnson's campaign is focusing on transparency. Johnson is willing to give out any information he has to the student body. Along with this, Johnson promises to create a weekly newsletter with the budget information and send it to any students interested. This is far from what Ste.Marie provides. When we interviewed Ste.Marie, he said he would make public only the information he thinks that students need.
Johnson has the potential to create beneficial change in SG and revamp the comptroller position.
Why no secretary?
Rosemary Cipriano is running unopposed, but that doesn't mean she gets our support.
This past semester, SG has not been accessible to the public. There are remarkably few students who know when events are happening or who are on the Executive Board. The job of secretary is primarily to foster an environment of communication between SG and the students.
Cipriano's performance as SG executive director of communications and marketing with communication has been lacking. There has been little information sharing between SG, the student body and The Eagle. Press releases and attempts to limit access do not make for transparency.
Cipriano will need to encourage communication. So far we have only seen the opposite.
How to vote:
Vote online with the electronic ballot via the myau portal. Polls open April 2 at 9 a.m. and close april 3 at 5 p.m.
edpage@theeagleonline.com
