Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Don’t make eye contact.
That’s what Lindsay Elliott thought as she walked by student senators campaigning on Wescoe Beach. She hoped they wouldn’t bother her, but her evasiveness wasn’t enough.
“Hi, I’m running for Student Senate. Do you mind if I walk with you for a second?”
Student Senate coalitions are already preparing for spring elections, but this year, campaigning will be less invasive to students. Under a new elections reform bill Senate passed several weeks ago, coalitions cannot begin any campaigning — passive or active — until five weeks before election. Last year, tabling on campus was not limited, and active campaigning was allowed only the week before elections. That means that under last year’s elections code, coalitions could be tabling in front of Wescoe Hall right now.
But for students such as Elliott, the change is welcome.
“We’re students, and they’re students, and there still needs to be regulation on what lines you can and can’t cross,” she said.
Elliott said although campaigning didn’t affect her life that much, she didn’t enjoy being hassled on campus.
“It bothers me when I politely decline their little spiel or politely pass by rather than stopping and listening, and they have a smart comment they throw back while I’m walking away,” she said.
The bill’s limitations allow coalitions less time and money to campaign. The bill caps spending at $6,000, an amount most senators agreed was fair. Last year, some former coalitions spent about $10,000 and another spent only $75.
Adam Wood, Lawrence senior and president of former coalition Students for Liberty, said the new limitations would make running an efficient campaign more important. Wood, who opposed the elections reform bill, said it handicapped smaller coalitions that had less support and existing campaign materials.
“It’s going to be a little difficult,” he said, “but in a way it helps because some people are kind of irresponsible and just go out there and, for half a year, just bother everybody. People get sick of it.”
The enforceability of the $6,000 spending limit was one of Wood’s major concerns about the bill. He said that there needed to be more oversight of coalitions’ spending so the race was fairer but that not all senators agreed with him. He said when he voiced his concerns about people exceeding the limits, one senator asked him whether he trusted other senators.
“That’s kind of the point,” he said. “We shouldn’t trust anybody in any point of power. We should keep their feet on the floor.”
But Mason Heilman, Lawrence junior and Student Executive Committee chairman, said the spending cap was just as enforceable as any other election regulations. He said coalitions had incentive to obey the limit because the penalty for going over the limit was to pay 50 percent of the amount that exceeded $6,000.
“I think that’s steep enough,” he said. “Setting the limit at $6,000 is much better than having an indeterminate amount of money.”
Wood said he was interested, albeit a little skeptical, to see how campaigning turned out.
“I hope they’re right,” he said. “If everybody is honest, you’ll have a very fair, even race. But I’m really hard-pressed to believe everybody will abide by the $6,000 limit.”
Although the new election codes leave Senate with more spending limits and time constraints to enforce, they leave students on campus a little less stress. For students who are not interested in Senate elections, fewer days having to deal with campaigning would be a welcome change. For those who do care, reduced campaigning could mean less voter fatigue when it comes time to vote.
— — Edited by Lauren Keith
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Comments
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
"Student Senate coalitions are already preparing for spring elections, but this year, campaigning will be less invasive to students." -No it won't. The bill eliminated passive table campaigning prior to 5 weeks before the election. But candidates aren't allowed to approach you during passive tabling; they just sit at a table until someone walks up to them. The really annoying part is the active campaigning.
"But Mason Heilman, Lawrence junior and Student Executive Committee chairman, said the spending cap was just as enforceable as any other election regulations." -Except people lie about how much money they've spent. And if you're not an idiot about hiding how much money you've spent, it's next to impossible to actually catch you.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
Coalitions have been lying about how much they spend 4ever. There is nothing in this bill that will force them to make a real honest accounting of how much groups spend, esp on courting and getting the votes of core constituency groups. Or would provide an independent way to keep them honest.
Comments like those from Heilman sound nice, but show that those in power have little interest in changing the status quo.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
Yes, but when Mr. Heilman runs for Student Body President in the spring, what steps will he take to make sure those running with him report their expenses? Heck, in banners alone last year, United Students had to have shelled out a couple thousand on full-sized, tri-color banners. Heilman's defense that it's as "enforcable as any" rule is a half-truth; most on campus campaign activities occur with interactions between people. Yes, you can get away with campaigning "illegally" to a student who doesn't know the rules, but you are likely to get caught. When Mr. Heilman, Ms. Davis and their coalition go on their pub crawl, will they report the bus rentals? The keg purchases?
More important to me is seeing that Jennifer Alderice and Tradition Keepers report the hours that STAFF spend chalking for United Students and the money spent buying them pizza. In any case, any reform has the opportunity to be good reform... it is up to the coalitions to respect it.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
Oldgoldlegs:
Get a life. Didn't you graduate like 10 years ago? This is why you lose every year.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
P.S. Senate people, get off the message boards.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
So then you'd have to go, too, Hawks, seeing as, having read the comments you leave on Senate articles, you clearly have an inside understanding of Senate and its internal politics.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
Alas, BCohen, I shall make a confession. I do have a (somewhat) inside knowledge of Student Senate. I am friends with several "insiders."
I myself, would probably not be considered an "insider" by most, however.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
Got a life. One that has me sitting at a desk 40 hours a week, answering phones. But between the rings, I've got to do SOMETHING to entertain myself.
Hasn't been a decade yet, but I believe I'm 2-2-1 in my Senate elections support.
But I'll make ya a deal... better yet, a bet! I'll put $20 down that I back the winning horse in this next election. On top of that, if I lose, I'll leave the boards, just for you. Problem is, you'd have to tell us who you are, so I can hold you to your incoming twenty-dollar-debt.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
And this somehow means you can post all you think all you want, and yet "Senate people" can't?
Now, I'm open about being an "insider". I've been in Senate since I was a freshman. Hell, I am one of the authors of the bill this article is about. Do I not deserve to have my say here, when there is a debate about a project that I am part of?
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
Yes, I suppose you're right BCohen.
I should have directed my comment more specifically at Oldgoldlegs.
It's not that someone doesn't have a right to post on here, it's just that it's not healthy for someone who hasn't been in student government in years to still be obsessed with it enough to continually post slamming comments on people he probably has barely talked to.
Everyone else who was in it when he was has moved on. So should he.
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
This bill did nothing to eliminate the problems associated with running campaigns. I'm sorry, nobody addressed the real issue here, active campaigning. Sure there's a few less days of it, but getting rid of it altogether would have been the best course of action. So many students complain about candidates "stalking" them on wescoe beach. I would challenge either coalition intent on running to design a new plan for engaging students and encouraging them to vote that doesn't involve interrupting student's otherwise peaceful walks to class.
Any Coalition that takes on this challenge will surely win my vote....
Why Wescoe may seem a little quieter right now
All we do is fund student groups and jerk off our egos.
Senate =/= a big deal.
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