Two races run unopposed in elections lacking clear front runners

The Daily Eastern News chose not to make endorsements for uncontested Student Government races because of time conflicts. Each candidate was profiled in the News prior to the race.

Larry Ward is running unopposed for student vice president for business affairs with the Campus Change Party. He is a finance major and senate member with experience building budgets as president of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

Amanda Sartore is running unopposed for student vice president for academic affairs with the Students Voice Party. Sartore has been a senate member for two years and has chaired the senate academic affairs committee. She has attended Faculty Senate meetings all year and delivered reports to Student Senate.

The editorial board chose not to endorse Amy Leonard, of the Students Voice Party, for student body president because it felt her ideas were not as strong or well-researched as Caleb Judy’s. The major plank of Leonard’s platform was a Web site called SINAPSE that would connect the campus through message boards, calendars, professor reviews and classified ads. The News itself already offers many of these services with varying degrees of success. Leonard also admitted she knew little about technology. The News also felt that Leonard’s leadership skills and experience did not compare to Judy’s.

The editorial board chose not to endorse Bud Wierenga of the Reckless Abandon Party for student body president. His ideas were either vague, such as being available to students and giving them what they want, or highly unlikely to ever work, like lowering Charleston’s bar-entry age. Wierenga also has no experience in Student Government aside from being University Board Concert Coordinator, a position from which he was asked to step down.

The News found each candidate for executive vice president to be qualified and capable, but decided Bill Davidson to be the best possible choice. Kyle Donash of the Students Voice Party has considerable experience working with the mayor and lobbying in the Legislature, but didn’t have Davidson’s leadership experience. Shermann Thomas was an integral part of the group that brought the Rev. Jesse Jackson to campus as president of Eastern’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but he lacked Davidson’s Student Government experience.

The News did not endorse Lindsey Baum of the Students Voice Party for student vice president for student affairs. Much of Baum’s experience in Student Senate was as chair of the Shuttle Bus Committee, which has historically been accused of mismanaging student fees, planning poor bus routes and failing to accommodate students. She envisioned a Constituency Council where representatives from Recognized Student Organizations would come to share concerns, a body not unlike last year’s weak RSO Council.

The editorial board also did not endorse Matt Kulp for student vice president for student affairs. Much of Kulp’s platform focused on the idea that students were lazy and spent the majority of each weekend intoxicated and therefore needed to be corralled or seduced into participating in campus events. The News disagrees. Kulp also had few concrete ideas aside from standing out in the quad with a megaphone to inform students of what was going on at Eastern