The Michigan Daily -- Friday, March 12, 1993 - Page 5


El

0

S

19-

g

Parties, c
Posters plaster the walls of Angell
Hall, the Modem Language Building,
and East Engineering.
It is election time once again.
Elections? In March? Didn't Bill
Clinton win?
Yes, he did, and now it's time to
elect those candidates who will grapple
with issues facing the University com-
munity: the Michigan Student Assem-
bly hopefuls.
Although the campus is saturated
with advertisements before and during
the campaign, few students on campus
really know who the candidates are,
what the parties stand for, and why
these people go to so much trouble to
get elected. Out of 34,536 registered
students for Winter Term 1992, only
3,237 people - 94 percent of the stu-
dentbody-voted in the MSA election
that semester.
MSA members have cited student
.pathy and poor communication be-
een students and administrators as
actors contributing to the general inef-
* fectiveness of the assembly. The candi-
dates running this term are hoping to
change all that.
Four political parties and a smatter-
.Y ing of independent candidates have hit
the campaign trail in order to fill 24
- vacancies on the assembly and head
x MSA with a new executive team.
The Progressives
"Reaching out to students in all ar-
eas is really important," said Jason
f ackner, who is currently the president
of the University Activities Center
(UAC)and the Progressive presidential
candidate.
The Progressive platform consists
of four key ideas:
. U to create a student consumer pro-
} tection agency in MSA;
i N to make the Union more acces-
ible to students;
U to increase funding and supportto
student groups; and,
U to revitalize MSA.
The Progressives have concrete
plans to support
q .,their ideas, and
I they are backed
m.by MSA Rep.
wrfF cika Gottfried's
student govern-
'ment experience
combined with
WzTackner's deal-
M>,ings withUniver-
sity administra-
tors. o
"rA One of the
" main things we P
wanttodois work J.SOn
with the adminis- Haknr
rs," Hackner
.'id. "I know the Schooe s a
personalities and MusiGC Junior
dynamics as well M
as the experience
of working with the larger stiudent orga-
nizations on campus."
Sinceincreasedstudent-group fund-
ing has. been an underlying concern
throughout the campaign among all the
.candidates, money issues have been a
, hot topic.
"I plan to look at MSA's budget and
o-prioritiesover the summer.There's some

2 ' room for improvement, but we should
continue to support Student Legal Ser-
vices, Ann Arbor Tenants Union, and
the Michigan Collegiate Coalition,"
_.Hackner said.
Hackner said the size of the Univer-
sity creates problems of its own.
"This is not a user-friendly univer-
sity," Hackner said. "There are a lot of
hurdles you have tojump through some-
times to get an answer.",
Hence the hope of creating astudent
consumer protection agency within
'MSA.

ampaign styles usher in new plans for MSA

"(The agency) would investigate
complaints regarding University ser-
vices and facilities," Hackner said. "Stu-
dents could go somewhere for help and
know that these problems are shared
problems."
Gottfried said she would like to see
morewomen'sis-
sues being ad-
dressed. n~nati
"I would like
to see the
Women's Issues
Commission of
MSA act as an
umbrella group.
for all the
women's organi-
zations on cam-
pus," she added.
All in all, the President:
Progressives are'
hoping to em- B
power students. House
"MSA needs Engineering.
more validity as a
student govern-. Junior
ment," Gottfried
said.
The Conservative Coalition
"The most important thing in our
platform is to revitalize MSA and im-
prove the respectability of it on campus.
Without (respectability) we can't work
on things effectively," said Conserva-
tive Coalition vice-presidential candi-
date Michelle Toger.
The Conservative Coalition is spon-
soring 13 candidates to run for repre-
sentative positions on the assembly.
Engineering Rep. Brenton House is run-
ning for president with Toger, an LSA
junior.
The party platform states, "It's time
to leave world politics to our country's
elected leaders and start concerning our-
selves with the problems we face right
here on campus."
The Conservative Coalition has fo-
cused its goals for MSA on key plat-
form issues:
to create a
stronger link and
better communi-
cation with ad-
ministrators and
the University
' F BoardofRegents;
Etosecurethe
controlof funding
for Student Legal
Services in the
hands of the ad-
ministration;
V to focus on
resident: student groups
Erika .. rather than indi-
G e. . viduals, increas-
.tnding student
RC Sophomore awareness of
MSA;
. tocreateob-
jectivity and non-judgmental attitudes
for allocating funds to student groups;
to sever all ties with the Michigan
Collegiate Coalition and find a more
efficient method of supporting student
lobbying; and,
to keep the new Student Leader
Board (SLB) separate from MSA.
The Conservatives said the first item
on their agenda will be the Statement of
Student Rights and Responsibilities.
Toger said the party will get alumni to
express theiropinions on the statement,
since "the administration is afraid of
alumni."
House added, "To make MSA what
it ought to be, it needs to represent

student views and make students want
to be interested, instead of forcing them
to be interested."
The Michigan Party
New to the MSA political arena this

term, the Michigan Party is mainly con-
cerned with keeping the assembly fo-
cused on campus issues.
"It shouldn't matter what your po-
litical leaning is. We should spend more
time on the issues of student rights
rather than the absurd things we tend to
consider," said
Brian Kight, the
e Coa.to $ ^ Michigan Party
vice-presidential
candidate.
The platform
focuses on seven
key issues, with
definitive mea-
sures to be taken
under each to ac-
complish its
5 goals. These is-
Vice-' sues are:
Preien to reform
President:...and restructure
Michelle MSA;
Toger . to fill the
leadership
LSA Junior vacuum;
to reach out
to students;
to fight for student rights;
to restructure budget priorities;
to address North Campus and
small-school concerns; and,
to further equality in tuition and
education.
The Michigan Party released a plat-
form statement that said, "With candi-
dates from five schools and a wide
variety of student organizations, the
Michigan Party will be fielding a well-
_.._. a.a -4A:.,..d, .,

force the other organizations to go out
and campaign," said candidate Brian
Clune, an LSA first-year student. "Ei-
ther way, it will cause some reform
within MSA."
Candidate and LSA sophomore
David Pava added, "MSA should be
seen as an organization that spends a
little bit of money from each student. It
should also be seen as something that is
absolutely powerless to do anything."
He continued, "We would like to
see it proven that MSA's voice to the
administration is worthless."
Keg Party candidate and LSA first-
year student Taryn Merkl said, "We are
trying to get students more involved in
the candidates and issues rather than the
party itself."
Pava said the campaign started out
as a fun thing, but now the Keggers see
themselves as a serious voice for the
student body.
Road to the election
The campaign trail is often a fierce
road with many obstacles until the end.
The trail followed by candidates to this
semester's Michigan Student Assem-
bly election has been an eventful one
with many unique occurrences.
The assembly's decision to adopt a
proposal made by the Michigan Party
-sponsoring anon-partisan voter drive
to combat student apathy - brought a
new responsibility to candidates and
their campaigns.
According to a statement
released by the Michi-
gan party, the pro-

ticipation (in elections), regardless of
who it supports, can only help students
in general, therefore we have taken it
upon ourselves to do something about
it."
The Progressives proposed thateach
candidate's campaign design its own
non-partisan poster. However, the as-
sembly chose to adopt the Michigan
Party's proposal,
which required the
Election Staff toM
design several
posters instead of r
the individual can-
didates.
All candidates'
were given the
same number of
posters to distrib-
ute along with
theircampaignfli-
ers.
The Election President:
Staff is required to Craig
distribute thenon- Greenberg
partisan posters to LSA
each candidate.
The posters must Sophomore
not advocate any
position to be
taken on the ballot questions. The post-
ers are designed to encourage student
participation.
"We are all working toward the same
goal of more student participation. The
Michigan Party thinks (participation) is
necessary for a good student
government," Greenberg
said.

plication to become an official party
was denied.
Insley said, "The party leader said
he was under the impression Samantha
Dog was a student here."
Bzdok said the Weasel Party oper-
ates on one platform position, "MSA
sucks, vote Weasel."

The four Weasell

Party candidates
are now on the
ballot as indepen-
dent candidates.
Bzdok said
even though the
candidates are
now running in-
dependently,
they still plan to
represent the aim
of the Weasel
Party.
"They were
using policy to
keeppeoplefrom
getting involved
rather than be-
coming involved,
which is what

rounded and
represent M
"We hav
our party fro
oftheUniver
presidentialc
Party.
The Mic
several met
One approac
ing a month
campus.
"This w
things: one,Iv
MSA can d
can make su
things fort
said.
Greenbe
has high ho
the assembl
"MSA h
more power
a n d
money
than
a n y
other
student
group or
organiza-
tiononcam-
pus. Ideally
we shoul
mobilize o
power andi
lize our me
fairly ande
tively help a]
other group
meaningful
Greenbergs

diverse slate to effectively posal was de-
ichigan students." signed to Dog tries tor
e very committed people in provide Weasel
)m a wide range of corners stu- By the March 2 de
sity," saidCraig Greenberg, If . candidate applications, f
candidate of the Michigan were represented on the b
addition to 11 independentc
higan Party has proposed However, one of the new1
hods of student outreach. Weasel Party, was given notic
his to hold one MSA meet- that it did not meet the requ
in rotating dorms around be an official party in the el
Although the Weasel Pa
ould accomplish three ted the names of five ix
MSAexists; two, what one was disqualifiedi
o; three, students isnotaregistereds
reMSAis doing name is Samanti
them," Kight isaGoldenRe
she planned
rg saidhe an LSAi
pes for - tive sea
Y. semi
has
7
Id M
cur ren
uti- Wea
oney lead
effec- Bzdok
l1these "Sh
s attain an interes
goals," down an a
said. . - . X4 . MSA," he cc

run as
eadline for
five parties
ballot - in
candidates.
parties, the
ce byInsley
irements to
ections.
rty submit-
ndividuals,
becauseshe
tudent. Her
haDog, she
triever, and
d to run for
representa-
at on the as-
bly.
" W e
thought
s h e
could
do a
bet-
ter
j o b
th an
many of
the mem-
bers on
SA cur-
ntly," said
wsel Party
er Chris
.
e expressed
t by tearing
rticle about
ontinued.

Senior they need,"
Bzdok said.
He added that
the Weasel Party will challenge the rule
requiring a party to have five members
because it is an arbitrary number that he
said was used against the Weasel Party.
Keg party challenge
The Election Court, the branch of
the assembly that hears complaints re-
garding the procedures and campaigns
during elections, has been called upon
once during the current election.
The Keg Party submitted an argu-
ment challenging the names of the
Michigan Party, Progressives and Con-
servative Coalition. It claimed the names
were deceptive to students - based on
their dictionary definitions.
"We are treating MSA with all the
severity that it deserves," Pava said.
The Keg Party challenged the name
of the Conservative Coalition arguing it
"does not profess the principles of con-
servatism. It does not meet a political
definition of conservative."
The Keg Party argued that, "the
Progressive Party has made little
progress of any sort, and thus can not be
characterized by progress."
The Michigan Party's name was
challenged because, "ithasnoland area,
a drastically different population (than
the actual state), no specific capital (Lan-
sing), nor does the party abbreviate its
name as Mich."
Before the Election Court hearing,
Kight said, "I think we're easily going
to win this challenge since it seems to be
more of a publicity stunt than a serious
challenge, but it's all in good fun."
Thursday, March 4, the Election
Court heard the case presented by the
Keg Party and defenses of the three
parties in question. The court unani-
mously denied the challenges.
Student responsibility
MSA is the official student voice at
the University, providing communica-
tion between students and the adminis-
tration, as well as advocating student
issues and concerns. It also holds the
responsibility of allocating funds for
the more than 700 student organiza-
tions across campus.
With an MSA fee paid by all stu-
dents at the University, students have
the right and responsibility to cast their
votes for representation in this central
student government.

The Keg Party
The Keg Party -
introduced three weeks ago - is not
endorsing any presidential orvice-presi-
dential candidates. It is the newest
addition to the slate for MSA elections,
and consists of six candidates running
for only for representative seats on the
assembly.
"We wanted to doone of two things.
We want to show that something needs
to be fixed if agroup like us can come in
and take a seat. Secondly, we wanted to

dentawarenessof MSA elections with-
out endorsing, supporting, or mention-
ing any specific candidates or parties.
A similar proposal was drafted first
by the Progressives, stating, "high par-

To be officially rec-
ognized in the assembly
elections, a party must be
represented by five valid student names
on the ballot. Since one of the candi-
dates did not receive this confirmation,
the Weasel Party was left with four
names on the ballot. Therefore, its ap-

by Adam Anger and Jennifer Tianen
Daily MSA Reporters

,Cal

's shared goverment appeals to MSA candidates

-A -

by Jennifer Tianen
Students grumble, representatives bumble,
and the administration mumbles excuses when
complaints are voiced regarding the policies
and activities of the University. Michigan Stu-
dent Assembly members, as well as their
constitutients, chastize the assembly for being
ineffective.
k; t Students are left to wonder where the prob-
lems exist.
Tnc -n - ~.lttct nt'r[TYQ mfJPY11P it ittA [ 1

dent Directory, "its goal is to service the needs
of students and the community, and in so doing,
enhance students' education by offering em-
ployment and training to students who perform
these services."
Unlike MSA representatives who are for-
bidden by their constitution to be paid, ASUC
compensates students for the work they do.
"Representatives are getting paid to be stu-
dent advocates," Hackner said.
A C TC assn nrovide the fnnwing services

the Student Advocates Office; and,
entertaining students with activities, in-
cluding movies, lectures and concerts.
MSA only provides a fraction of these ser-
vices because groups such as the University
Activities Center bring entertainment to campus
and the Michigan Collegiate Coalition (MCC)
lobbies for student rights on the state and na-
tional levels.
One major difference between MSA and
ASUC is in the amount of funding available.

lower cost in a convienent location," said Iris
Vincencio, an administrative assistant for ASUC.
Hackner said, "Shared govemance redistrib-
utes power. The administration is still in charge,
but there is an incorporated student govern-
ment."
Hackner said Vice President for Student
Affairs Maureen Hartford said she "would not
be uncomfortable working on (creating asimilar
system at the University.)"
Although Hartford was unavailable forcom-

groups and get input, and we would also neea
larger budget," House said.
He added that CC is planning to make con-
tact with individual students.
Craig Greenberg, the Michigan Party presi-
dential candidate, said, "It's worth looking into
in that it might be a good goal for the future."
However, Greenberg expressed doubts that
concrete actions will be taken.
"Before MSA can think about taking on
extra responsibilities it first must do what it's