Sorting through the parties: OU's senate presidential hopefuls
The Birthday Party; Ability And Accountability (AAA); Action through Cooperation and Teamwork for OU (ACT OU)
By Megan Helgeson, writer
May 14, 2008 | noon
Three parties are vying for that representation: The Birthday Party, the Ability And Accountability party (AAA) and the Action through Cooperation and Teamwork for OU party (ACT OU). Below are profiles of each party so that students can inform themselves before voting.
The Birthday Party
Presidential Candidate: Will Klatt
Vice Presidential Candidate: John Calhoun
Platforms:
1. Checks and Balances
“We want students, faculty and staff added to the Trustee Board. We want a veto system integrated into the decision making process,” according to the party’s Facebook group.
2. Alcohol and Marijuana Policies
According to its page, The Birthday Party says, “Students got an unfair deal when the Student Senate and the administration passed these policies. We would like to renegotiate this current state of affairs.” The reputation of the university is the reason Klatt believes these policies have been approved. “The policies shouldn’t be based on imagery,” Klatt said.
3. The Campus Culture
“We want to reconnect the students to the institution. It’s time to change the way that we relate to the school, and change the way the school relates to us,” states the group’s page. Klatt refers to the usual routine of learning where students listen to a professor lecture and then just “regurgitate” the information. “Education should be a personal experience and more participatory,” Klatt said.
The Birthday Party members pride themselves for not being made up of students currently on Student Senate. It promotes “real change with a new student senate,” according to a Birthday Party flier.
Ability And Accountability (AAA)
Presidential Candidate: Michael Adeyanju
Vice Presidential Candidate: Sally Neidhard
Platforms:
1. Accountability
The party says that this includes “not only holding ourselves accountable, but also the administration and other students,” according to the AAA's Facebook group. “We intend to initiate productive but dogged lobbying efforts to achieve change, while ensuring more student input in the evaluation of President McDavis.”
2. Student Outreach
“We want to connect more to the students,” the group’s page states, “not just the students who are overly involved and active, but every other student on this campus who deserves to be heard.”
3. Environment
“We want to see the University continue, but also enhance their work in saving the environment,” the page continues." Adeyanju said his efforts would be “making sure people can recycle on and off campus” while also “taking money from energy savings and using it to create new initiatives.”
4. Off-Campus Living
“We want to make sure that students living off-campus are having a positive experience,” according to the group’s page. “This means that we want to hold the city accountable for housing codes and make sure that OU students are being represented.”
AAA emphasizes their variety of people for ensuring that they will represent OU.
“We have people from different races, political ideology, majors and colleges,” the group’s page states. “We have people who all bring unique and different viewpoints but who share one goal: making OU better for the students.”
Action through Cooperation and Teamwork for OU (ACT OU)
Presidential Candidate: Mashur Rahman
Vice Presidential Candidate: none chosen
Platforms:
1. Communication and Accountability
Rahman points out that the current Student Senate has not done as much as they should have. He gives the example of the Web site not being updated. “The Student Senate should keep the students, who they represent, up to date,” Rahman said.
2. Permanent Representation for Athletes
In light of the numerous OU varsity team cuts, ACT OU plans to obtain more representation for athletes so that they can “talk about their issues,” Rahman said.
3. Make Graduate Student Senate Independent of Student Senate
“The needs of graduate students are very different from the undergrad student body,” Rahman said. He stated, however, that an independent institution “does not mean we will never work together.”
4. Student Health Insurance
Rahman notes that although there are many students under their parents' insurance plans, there are just as many that have to provide for their own insurance. He is striving for a “better deal” for insurance.
5. International Student Housing
Being an international student from Bangladesh, this subject has an important place in Rahman’s policies. One issue Rahman wants to change is how international students are forced to leave the dorms during OU’s winter and spring breaks. Without the ability of going home for the breaks, international students are forced to pay a fee each night for housing.
ACT OU distinguishes itself from the other parties by being “formed as a community based organization,” Rahman said. He hopes that the students and the community can work together to make a difference in Athens as a whole.
“There is a lot more that the university, a lot more that the community can do to make [students’] experience more full,” Rahman said. “But there is more that students can do for the community, too.”
An e-mail will be sent out reminding students to vote for Student Senate on Thursday, May 15. Students can either vote online or from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Baker University Center.
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