Student participation the key element to campus success
Students running for University of Colorado Student Union (UCSU) Representatives at Large will begin heavy campaigning for election week, Oct. 23 through Oct. 27, in order to emphasize the students’ right to choose.
Four tickets of candidates will be running for a total of five representative seats available including The EDJ Ticket, First Class Ticket, The GOLD Ticket and an independent candidate. The platform of each ticket highlights their potential goals, ideas and main areas of focus if chosen to represent the student body. Above all, each ticket stressed the importance of student participation in the election process.
“If you look at last year, there were 739 people voting, which is less than 3 percent of the population,” said Eric Day, a sophomore political science and theater major who is part of The EDJ ticket. “I just really want to get the word out. The biggest thing is getting people out there to vote.”
The EDJ Ticket platform includes issues such as stopping the increase in student fees, bringing the relationship between the student body and UCSU closer together and improving the communication between UCSU and students when it comes to important decisions such as using student money to pay for on-campus projects.
“My goal is that I want to bring UCSU back to real student issues. Students can’t see what they’re doing,” Day said. “It’s like a shapeless cloud hovering over the CU campus.”
In order to achieve these goals, The EDJ Ticket will focus on specific ideas like rerouting the money spent on paid UCSU positions to projects such as the addition of new bike racks, extending Norlin Library hours and keeping Wardenberg open seven days a week, Day said.
Campaigning for The EDJ Ticket consists of chalking, flyers, tabling in the UMC and t-shirts, which were paid for personally by Day.
Other tickets pointed out the importance of student voting for the UCSU election as well.
“I think the students are very disconnected with UCSU right now and that shows in the number of students voting,” said Chance Heath, a freshman international affairs major and part of the First Class Ticket. “My main goal is to create some sort of open forum to let students have a voice. I don’t want to disappear off the face of the earth if I get elected.”
The First Class Ticket’s platform includes fiscal accountability, improving CU’s image, supporting student groups and improving relations between the city of Boulder and CU.
“Along with CU’s image, we want to improve relations with the city of Boulder,” said Ryan Hatch, a junior broadcast news major who is also part of the First Class Ticket. “Little things like trash, noise, and recycling; if we could get the police to come talk to CU (students) first before (they) escalate to the point of no return.”
Though the First Class Ticket has began their campaigning by chalking and talking to CU student groups, they will put their campaign into full throttle until the actual week of elections, Heath said.
“It’s kind of like a two stage process,” Heath said. “The week before is just about getting your name out and letting people know that this is all going on. Election week is about convincing I’m the right ticket and to actually vote.”
Some members of the First Class Ticket belong to the Greek system, but their involvement with this group won’t interfere with their positions on UCSU if chosen, Heath said.
“I am a part of the Greek system, but first and foremost I’m a student of the University of Colorado,” Heath said. “I don’t think my affiliations with the Greek system would change what I want to do.”
The GOLD Ticket, which stands for Genuine, Outreach, Leadership and Diversity, has also begun campaigning for the elections. Their platform focuses on diversity within CU’s campus, educating the student body on UCSU involvement and improving CU’s image.
“One of the biggest things is support for the community,” said Dustin Farivar, a sophomore political science and sociology major and a part of The GOLD Ticket. “We need to support everyone on this campus including diversity. We need to educate students on what support looks like.”
Farivar, founder of Power of One, also emphasized the importance of raising the awareness of the significance of student participation.Power of One is a community initiative about individual students standing up and making a difference, he said.
The responsibility of a Representative at Large is exactly what the title implies: representing the student body by being the liaison between the students and the University itself, Farivar said.
Two of The GOLD Ticket’s members, sophomores Windy Alarcon, an open-option major, and Zenia Cordova, an English major, currently hold Representative at Large positions within UCSU.
“Our ticket has a lot of experience working with all the issues that are on our platform,” Farivar said. “We really have a lot to offer and have strong relations with administration as well as a commitment to quality.”
Opportunities for students to vote will begin Monday, Oct. 23, and continue until Friday, Oct. 27. For more information, visit UCSU’s official website to read about the tickets’ platforms.
http://www-ucsu.colorado.edu/ivote/