At this time one year ago, LSA student government was a model of effective student government. The representatives running the body were full of talent, vision and energy. Over a two-year period, LSA-SG had made real progress on issues of importance to students. These accomplishments included introducing academic minors to the College of Literature Science and the Arts and allowing LSA students to take 20 credits in other colleges – an increase from the previous limit of 12.
For the past year, however, LSA-SG has been marking time. The body cannot lay claim to any significant achievements that have taken place since the current regime has taken over. The current LSA-SGrepresentatives have failed to live up to the achievements of their predecessors. It is clear that the most viable remedy for the current stasis can only be a change of the body’s makeup.
For this reason, University Party candidates Ravi Perry and Jesse Knight are the best choices for LSA-SG president and vice president, respectively. Perry and Knight have the vision, ideas, energy and experience to lead LSA-SG for the coming year.
Their opponents from the Students First party, Dave Matz and Tania Brown, are dedicated and knowledgeable participants in LSA-SG. Matz has been serving as the Budget Allocations chair and has been active within the Greek system. He has also worked to bring wireless Internet access to the University and to improve the University’s printing policy. Brown has served on a numerous of LSA-SG committees and has shown great dedication on a number of student issues.
Meanwhile, the University Party’s Perry and Knight have stressed the importance of accountability. If elected, they promise to work to improve representative attendance rates at LSA-SG meetings and to ensure that representatives hold their office hours. They have been critical of the current LSA-SG leaders for never updating the body’s website.
They intend to improve communication between representatives and students and to make themselves more accessible to students. They rightly note that attendance at meetings has fallen this year and that the body is both disorganized and not serving its constituents. They point out, for example, that despite a host of promises, the financial aid taskforce that LSA-SG created this year has only met once. Perry and Knight have plans to improve the foreign language departments and to update both the foreign language and race and ethnicity requirements.
Perry and Knight’s promise not to chalk in this campaign is an admirable display of their desire to develop legitimate connections with students. While they are not elected representatives on LSA-SG, they have served on a variety of committees and task forces with an impressive level of dedication.
The Michigan Daily enthusiastically endorses Ravi Perry and Jesse Knight for LSA-SG president and vice president.