CUSG candidates are covering ground on and around the CU campus to campaign for the their ticket and entice students to vote during CUSG election week.
The Pulse ticket prepares a rebuttal against the Inspire ticket at the CUSG debate Oct. 16. (CU Independent File/Andrew Tawil)
Candidates from both CUSG parties, Pulse and Inspire, have been working tirelessly and campaigning constantly to try to encourage students to vote this week. Voting started on Monday and since then, Pulse and Inspire have set up tables in the UMC fountain area, as well as by the Rec Center, to inform students about their differing platforms.
Inspire and Pulse are represented by 10 candidates for the position of CUSG Representative-at-Large and nine for Arts and Sciences Student Government Representative-at-Large.
Inspire’s platform this fall is to lower student fees, reapply student fees to support club sports, increase campus safety, increase efficiency for student group funding and heighten the value of a CU degree.
Wesley Montag, a 20-year-old sophomore political science major and a candidate on the Inspire ticket, has been working alongside his teammates to get students to recognize the importance of voting in the CUSG elections.
“We’re doing our best to encourage students to first vote, then if we can, vote for Inspire,” Montag said. “I think both tickets are doing a great job of actually getting out there, being visible, making sure that students actually vote, because that’s the most important thing today, regardless of who they vote for.”
Much like the push for voter registration for the presidential election, CUSG is hitting the Hill and spots all around campus to gain voters.
“We’ve been trying to go all around campus, to the Hill and all around Boulder to make sure that students vote,” Montag said. “I would encourage everyone to make sure they know who and what they’re voting for.”
Jessie Simms, an 18-year-old freshman pre-journalism major, said that she is voting for Inspire because she likes their ideas and supports the ticket’s ties to Greek life.
“I am voting for Inspire because I’m part of the Greek community, so I know a lot of people running on the Inspire ticket,” Simms said. “I like the idea that they want to change CU for the better and that they want to focus on bringing the school together. I like the things they want to do with student funding too.”
Pulse, the winning ticket of CUSG’s spring election, has a platform that aims to increase campus safety and security, use student fees more efficiently, establish strong relations with student groups, increase the transparency of CUSG, lobby for increased federal funding to CU, incorporate the views of law school and graduate students and adopt more sustainability practices at CU.
Magnolia Landa-Posas, an 18-year-old freshman integrative physiology and women’s studies major, said that her strategy as a candidate for the Pulse ticket is to connect with students and shed light onto issues that may be important to them.
“A lot of students don’t understand how important student government is,” Landa-Posas said. “We’re encouraging students to vote mainly by telling them a little bit about who we are. We’re also encouraging them to go to the other platform, and compare and contrast, then actually see who they would be willing to vote for.”
Tyler Spreng, a 19-year-old sophomore psychology major, said he is voting for Pulse because he is particularly interested in the improvement of student programs.
“I agree with keeping higher student fees because it allows for better research, better professors, and an all-around better campus,” Spreng said. “If we want to maintain the [reputation] of this university, then some higher fees are a good thing.”
For both parties, election week has been both productive and exhausting. Candidates from Pulse and Inspire wake up around 5 a.m. and continue working until about 12 a.m. The time in between is spent campaigning, which includes talking to students, chalking, and participating in debates, such as the CUSG debate held Tuesday.
Undecided voters are encouraged to visit the tables that are set up to talk to each party about their platforms in order to decide which ideas they agree with most. Both Pulse and Inspire have Facebook pages that lay out their ideas to improve CU and introduce their candidates. Pulse’s Facebook page can be found here, and Inspire’s Facebook page can be found here.
Students may cast their votes for the CUSG elections through Friday by logging on to MyCUinfo.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alyx Saupe at Alyx.saupe@colorado.edu.
