The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Aside from the shameless use of the Plaza, and various cardboard likenesses of candidates, the Internet is playing a more and more crucial role in the process.

This year, we can once again vote for all of the exciting ... er ... stimulating ... um ... existing election items. (Uh, a little help here ... what adjective would you use to describe this year's series of referendums and funding requests? Send me an e-mail ... I'll print the best one next week. Remember, this is a family newspaper.)

We can also vote for our favorite candidates for ASCSU president and vice president. Hooray!

The two tickets who seem to have gotten the jump on all the other tickets and managed to get their platforms on the Web are Dan Kunz and Neil Dougherty, and Brett Nolan and Scott Wilkinson.

I'm sure that the other candidates will follow suit, but since these guys have gotten busy (at least at press time), I thought that it might be useful to the voting body of this campus to get a head start at looking into the issues of this election.

Both platforms, which can be found online, are very large in their scope.

One group wants ASCSU to "expedite the process" of building a large clock tower in the plaza. Wow. Now, I'm not sure, but I don't think that ASCSU is in charge of campus construction. Maybe they should be, though. Then again, probably not.

This same group wants to "revamp CTV to make it a more student-friendly station." Huh? Since when did the authority of ASCSU extend into student media? I was under the impression that the campus TV station was student-friendly, as it was entirely run by students. Oh well, I'm looking forward to a student government-run TV station. How about you?

The other group has a few, more realistic notions, but they're still reaching a bit far. They promise to ensure "that the library adopts hours that accommodate the diverse schedules of all students." Too late. Al Yates announced yesterday that the library's already working on that one.

Is ASCSU suddenly in control of the campus budget? If so, sign me up. I'd love to look at the possibility of getting a shuttle from Moby so that I wouldn't have to walk so far on all those cold days ... oh wait, they actually are promising a shuttle as well? Ludicrous!

Both groups online want to restructure current university policies, such as the CORE curriculum and the plus/minus grading system. Again, these proposals are outside the scope of ASCSU's authority, and silly to make promises about.

So far, the only promises that I've seen from these tickets are promises that are destined to be broken.

Please, candidates, don't lie to us so early in the campaign. Wait until the election draws near, and you're really desperate for our support. If you're going to promise anyway, then follow up with specifics. Tell us how you're going to do it.

This isn't an endorsement for or against these candidates. Nor do I necessarily blame them for their outrageous vows. The students on this campus demand as much from their student leaders, when they should be looking to the campus administration instead.

The role of a good student leader should be that of a mediator between the students and the administration. A good leader should be able to take the concerns of the students to those in the position to do something about those concerns.

The student leadership that this campus needs should be able to communicate desires, and not claim outrageous authority.

I don't know who or what I'm going to vote for come election day. I do know though, that I'll be voting on folks who make realistic promises about their efforts, and not those candidates who use Herculean feats of promising magic in order to sway my thinking.

You've got a nice start there, fellows. Now how about some realistic goals?

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