Meet the WSA Pres & VP Candidates

Yes, it’s that time of year again.  I hate to break it to you, but WesFest is pretty much over.  Any straggling prefrosh will soon be gone and the Mongolian Grill won’t be running out of food at dinner (yeah, that actually happened Friday) anymore.  It’s now time to make some decisions of our own: who will be our next WSA President and Vice President?

As a member of the WSA, I can tell you that this is really important.  The WSA has more power and potential than most students recognize–it can definitely get things done.  In fact, people wouldn’t have to complain about a lot of things on the ACB over and over if they just complained once clearly and directly to WSA members.  While each WSA member is extremely important, the leadership of any organization is vital to it getting things done.  So, if you want your next year at Wes to be as great as possible, you’re going to click to read more and you’re going to vote by clicking here beginning Monday, April 18th.

Amusing videos (!), statements, and more follow:

Zachary Malter ’13 for President and Meherazade Sumariwalla ’12 for Vice President

Zach & Meherazade fight for students & win!
We’ve stood up to the administration, improved financial aid, student freedom, & sustainability. See the results:

• Saved financial aid from budget cuts. Zach, the only candidate who’s fought for financial aid, founded the financial aid committee.
• Led the fight against the Restrictive Housing Policy & won, convincing President Roth to rescind the policy!
• Achieved up to 130 additional dining points/student.
• Created the local cheese co-op & promoted sustainability.
• Revitalized transportation with RideGPS & M*Link.

Next year, we’ll continue to stand up against restrictive policies, fight for financial aid, increase the number of campus jobs, & champion a full-time sustainability staffer. We’ll form a cabinet to meet with students outside the WSA to build a strong team of support for student issues. With the help of students, we’ll send a powerful message to the administration & win!

Visit their Facebook event by clicking here.

Joseph O’Donnell ’13 for President

I’m running for WSA President to take the WSA in a new direction. The sad truth is that most students, including you probably, have no idea what the WSA does. I haven’t spoken to a non-WSA member who can name all five main committees of the WSA.  Many write-in responses on the WSA mid- and end-of-year surveys are “Don’t know what XYZ [acronym] stands for…” It’s time we change this, and that Wesleyan elect a student body president who not only does an effective job working with administratorson projects like creating the Wesleyan Bike Rental Program (WesBikes), serving on the Sexual Violence Prevention Task Force, and improving class-appropriate housing options (Copenhagen clusters for sophomores were my idea last year), but more importantly reaches out to students to find out what concerns are most important to them and thendoes what it takes to represent those concerns. This is why I’m been fighting to raise the Standard of Proof in Wesleyan’s student judicial process and plan on working with fraternity and society leadership next year to establish an Inter Greek Council (IGC) toprevent gross administrative abuses of power like the Residential Policy Revision pushed through by President Roth and the administration earlier this year.
I hope I’ve had the chance to meet you; if not, if you happen to see me around campus, don’t hesitate to say hi. I’m always looking for ways to improve the WSA, to better incorporate student perspective and interest into the issues we work on, and hear what you’ve been up to—after all, it’s the students and student groups, not 36 WSA members, that make Wesleyan the amazing place it is. I’ll probably be making some dorm rounds to introduce myself to you during election week, but I’m trying not to overdo it à la WSA campaigning and politicking as usual. It’s time candidates stop canvassing to “find outwhat issues are most important to you and…uh…could you vote for me too” only during the week leading up to and during elections. As WSA President, I plan on having the WSA canvass throughout the year exclusively to find out what issues you want to see address—with no request for a vote! In order for us to end this unsavory and incessant WSA campaigning status quo, it’s time we band together and send a clear message that students want real change.
Check out my facebook event here to learn more about what I’ve been up to and hope to do in the future, and see a few of the student who support me in the “I Support Joe O’Donnell” video:

Thanks for the support and I’m looking forward to improving the WSA together!

Melody Oliphant ’13 for President and Grace Zimmerman ’13 for Vice President

More coverage coming soon.