The Michigan Daily -- Thursday, November 9, 2000 - 5A MSA ELECTIONS: Blue Party wants Fall break, code changes PARTY PROFILES Independants take range of approaches By Johanna Wetmore Daily Staff Reporter Ask any of the Blue Party's 13 candidates why they chose to run on the Blue Party ticket and they're likely to tell you it is because of their compe- Blue tition. "The candidates are the * Create a Fall b reason, it wasn't the name, it was the people," said Develop atext incumbent LSA sophomore U Hold MSA offic Jessica Cash, who formerly residence halls ran against the Blue Party. WWWUm/.L C The party's platform this semester is to move toward a more pro-active student government. Through several initiatives, such as informative mass c-mails from MSA to the students on the current ongoings of MSA and creating MSA office hours in residence halls, party p members say they hope to garner greater participation from the student body. "Students deserve to know where their ' re bc Ge 55.69 a semester goes to," said Blue Party co- chair Adam Damerow. The platform also includes the creation of a Fall break, a point which Damerow calls the party's "sexiest issue." "I found out the Law School has a Fall break," he said. "If they can, why can't we?" ak Along with a lobbying effort for a textbook tax ok taxeeption exemption, the push for hours in improved campus bussing and full disclosure of .edu/~vote MSA funding, the Blue Party would also like to lend its support to the Greek System's right to the continuing tradition of Fall Rush without Administrative intervention. The Blue Party recognizes that while the platform is the foundation for the party, "each individual candidate also has additional issues," Damerow said. LSA sophomore Alex McDonough said he would like to see revisions in the Student Members of the Blue Party meet in the Welker Room at the Michigan Union last night. Code of Conduct. He specifically is focused on two violations which prioritize police security above a student's freedom of speech. "The assembly should be doing all that it can to fight the student code of con- duct," said MSA Communications Commit- tee Chair and LSA sophomore incumbent Matt Nolan. Damerow said the Blue Party is the best group to articulate the concerns of the student body. "We are proud to have a racially, ethni- cally and politically diverse party." he said. "W1e are a moderate party and the best chance to represent the students as a whole." By Johanna Wetmore Daily Staff Reporter For as long as there have been candidate par- ties, there have been independents willing to stray from the group in search of a more suitable voice - their own. Even without a central platform, the nine inde- pendent candidates in this year's MSA elections can agree that the difficulties of going it alone outweigh the benefits of party identification. "I don't want to have to be bound with parties. I don't want to campaign with something I don't believe in," independent candidate Dan Barrera said. The LSA sophomore derived one of his focal points from personal experience in his goal to focus on extension of UHS service hours and a monthly stipend for first aid trained residence advi- sors in residence halls. Along with his support for a Fall break Barrera is also pushing for extending the hours and expanding the CCRB. "It's small given the number of students who use it." Barrera said. LSA junior Tony Goodman would also lkc to see longer access for University buildings like CAC Little and Frieze, adding that "the libraries shot I have 24 hour access." Goodman said he will also push for more Clean-Fuel University Busses and -more "Pedestrian Friendly Construction," going so far as to make it his campaign slogan. Goodiman said of the Angell Hall renovation project "It'sall necessary and good, but they need to replace the closed paths. It's so muddy and nasty." Social Work student Diego Bernal decide'd against focusing on a particular agenda. "I don't have a campaign. It would be egotistical of me to run a campaign, considering no one is running against me." The lone candidate from the schooi of Social Work Diego Bernal said he's running independent "cause I'm my own man." LSA sophomore Zack Slates said that ;th "assembly needs to communicate more with stu' dents and issues directly affecting students." Slate suggests more promotion of 5-5MSA, the MSA hotline where students can voice complaints. * nakes debut the way funding is allocated to student groupsby a Community Service Initiative and a Multi-cultuaI e, which would disperse funds to organizations t114 e the awareness and understanding of the many dif ultures at the University.., aling with the affirmative action debate, it is the blief igan Party, that the job of the assembly is to facilitate e and thus consider the state of affirmative action in a. DAAP bases agenda on students' rights ByJane Krull Daily Staff Reporter. In this fall's Michigan Student Assembly elections, the Defend Affir- mative Action Party takes the title of being the oldest party in the running and having the most candidates vying for seats. "DAAP is about equality for all students on campus," said party mem- ber Ebonie Byndon, a sophomore running for one of the eight open LSA seats. The party formed in 1997, after two lawsuits were filed against the Univer- sity challenging its use of race as a factor in admissions in the College of LSA and in the Law School. DAAP decided to devote their party to the issue of affirmative action because they believe that the issue of integration in society is key to the future. "We understand that the fight for defending affirmative action is the question on whether our society moves forward," said party leader Jessica Curtin, who is running for one of the three Rackham seats. "We have an unparalleled record for standing up for students' rights and interests," said Curtin, a party founder. The work of party members on the assembly includes introducing resolu- tions that fight for tuition freezes, defends fraternities against police harassment and endorses the lifting of UN sanctions on Iraq. Party members on the assembly will be focused on organizing the campus around upcoming admis- sions trials and putting together the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Summit on the New Civil Rights Movement, scheduled to be held at the Universi- Defend Affirmative Action Party * Abolish the Student Code of Conduct. 1 Support Lifngt the U.N. sanctions against Iraq. 1 Support the Graduate Employees in. their negotiations with the University. www.umich.edu/-daap/ ty in January. According to DAAP's platform, the party wants to "Investigate and take action against racist, sexist and other bigoted acts." The party has brought issues such as alleged discriminatory policies against social events in the Union - specifi- cally those sponsored by black and Latina/o student groups - to the attention of the assembly. Along with DAAP's goal to fight against forms of prejudice, the party wants to investigate and take action against racist, sexist, and other bigoted attacks and "end police harrasment of fraternities and sororities." Also part of DAAP's platform is their continuing efforts to abolish the Code of Student Conduct. Michigan Party r By Jane Krull amend Daily Staf Reporter adding< Initiativ Running on the theme of "New Faces, New Ideas," the increase Michigan Party is making its debut in the Michigan Student ferent c Assembly's Fall elections. 1i de With iio incumbents on the ticket, the party is running 13 of Mich candidates for seats on the assembly. "We are a group of common Joe stu- dents that don't think MSA works and want to do something about it," said Chuck Wang, who is running for one of the eight open LSA seats. "We want to make MSA more effec- tive," said party founder and candidate Doug Tietz. According to their platform, there are 11 main issues that the party hopes to address through the assembly. The party intends to work solely on Michiga B Pass more subst 1 Improve condition halls ® Instate "Freshma plan www. votemic Il bipartisan manner. They believe that the n Party campus is virtually split on the issue and a does MSA little good to further divi4o antiaI resolutions students by weighing in on the issue through multiple resolutions. ns of residence Working with the Residence Hals Association, Michigan party will woik n Forgiveness toward improving residence hall con' ditions such as meal plans, toilet seat ganparty.Com covers and temperature controfle, rooms. Michigan Party would like to instate a "Freshman Forgiveness" program that excludes the first grade a freshman student receives when he takes a class a second time. This would replace the current policy that reports both grades on a student's transcript. Michigan Party recognizes that Greek system i tabi autonomous institution and believes that they should'.be accountable to the law and not the University for their alcohol policies. student issues and to insure that passed resolutions are of more substance to the students. In an effort to open up the lines of communication between MSA and stu- dents, Michigan Party would like MSA to hold a series of town hall meetings in addition to conducting Tuesday night meetings at a minimum of five residence halls each semester. Also on the platform, Michigan Party would like to But now, the real test is at hand: life. Life in the business world. Life in the age of some wicked cool technology. Life in a new millennium. -~ . -k. 4: