Candidates come out to Halas 4/18/07

Imagine Barack Obama, Rudy Guiliani, Hillary Clinton and John McCain all in one place while candidates for Congress handed out pizza on a sunny day on Halas.

Well, it was sort of like that.

In the first annual Meet the Candidates event, students running for positions in the Unified Student Government (USG) passed out pizza and pop. Those running for any of the three presidential positions - executive, programming and senate - had a chance to talk about their platforms and field questions.

"This event is to raise awareness of the elections and the restructuring and to encourage everyone to vote this week," USG adviser Jack McLean said.

"Students can get a better feel for the candidates," senior Steve Wells, a USG Cabinet member, said. "It's one thing to see ads. Its another to see them face to face."

Students had already received a flood of campaigning with fliers. Candidates and constituents alike recognized the power of Facebook in getting the word out.

When asked how many election-related Facebook invitations he'd received, junior Bryan Steinher laughed and said, "More than I ever needed."

Students have already been inundated with the candidates' faces and potential positions, but Monday was a chance to get some face time.

"Something like this gives you more of an idea who to vote for. You can visualize the candidates instead of just picking a name or voting for your friend," Steiner said.

The candidates for president of programming, juniors Frank Lattyak, Kristina Morgan and Nigel Vilches, were introduced, presented their platforms and fielded questions. Next, the students running for president of the senate, juniors Matt Willms and Tom Jacks, had a chance to do the same.

The main event of the afternoon was the introduction of the four candidates for executive president: sophomore Justin Sorensen and juniors Scott Harris, Halak Mehta and Nellie Sires. The candidates had a chance to introduce themselves and their platforms.

Sorensen emphasized the importance of acting as a liaison between the programming and the senate, which he feels capable of, having had experience in both fields.

Sires' platform centered around getting the "student voice in every level of university decision making."

Mehta presented her position as an outsider from the current student government, which she believes does not represent the student body. Her plans as president would include setting up a system on LOCUS so that students could go online and vote for programming and other items of their concern.

Harris took a different approach, saying, "I'm asking you to tell me what you want me to do as president."

A wireless microphone was passed through the crowd and questions boomed from the speakers apparently out of nowhere. Questions ranged from involvement in USG to support of School of Americas protest resolution.

All the candidates stated their support of the resolution, which has never been passed by USG's Senate.

"I'm anti-murder so I'm definitely for the resolution," Harris said.

"What would you say to someone who doesn't care about student government?" a student asked as others laughed.

"That's a challenge that we face as a student government, and we're more than prepared to fight for it," Sires said.

The candidates were asked how they saw the programming and senate branches of USG working together.

"They're separate for a reason," Sorensen said. "They have two separate tasks."

Harris emphasized the need for flexibility and cooperation in the new organization.

Shared governance is a new initiative that USG has spearheaded this semester. Students now hold positions on the University Policy Committees. A question regarding the continuance and future of these committees was posed to the candidates.

Mehta highlighted her plan to move to an online system where students would have direct input on policy and programming.


Sires said there was a continued need for vocal, active student leaders to be appointed to and maintain their position on these committees.

Current USG president, senior Atheni Asihel, asked the final question of the afternoon. She asked what each candidate's criticism of this year would be and how he or she would change it.

All the candidates praised Asihel's hard work and commitment to USG.

Sorensen promised to continue Asihel's work while trying to increase the transparency and inclusion of all student voices in the new USG.

Sires said she would want senators to be more hands on with legislation and activities while Mehta expressed concern with the exclusivity of the current USG.

"Students' voices are not heard from outside of USG," Mehta said. "The government needs to represent the whole Loyola community.

While Harris knows how active USG is around campus, he cited the main problem as students not having any idea what USG does.

This concern was echoed by some students who turned out for the free pizza but didn't have much interest in the upcoming elections.

"I don't think it's important to vote because I don't think they have a say in what's going on on campus," junior Tim Browe said.

The event wrapped up as the pizza boxes piled up on Halas Field.

"I liked what the candidates where saying," junior Erin MacIntyre said. "It's important for us to have a hand in what's going on and vote for people to hold these positions and get things done."

Elections will be open on LOCUS starting Wednesday at 8 a.m. until Thursday at 5 p.m.

"I hear people complaining about what's going on on campus, but if people don't get involved by voting then it's their own fault," junior Kristin Bartos said.