Lauren May and Ryan Ford are running
unopposed with Students First for LSA Student Government president
and vice president. Although they are running unopposed, voters
should still to go out and cast their votes for these two
candidates.
- Laura Wong
Both candidates are active members of the campus community. May
currently serves as LSA-SG treasurer and is also a member of the
Chinese Student Association, the Asian American Association and the
Phi Beta Chi business and economics fraternity. Ford is the
Appointments Committee vice chair and a member of the Greek
community.
Another important facet of their campaign is their ability to
recognize the need to set reasonable goals. Rather than make
grandiose promises for electablility’s sake, May and Ford set
reasonable goals and understand LSA-SG’s capabilities. The
candidates also possess a willingness to expand LSA-SG’s
scope beyond academics and become more involved in student affairs.
To achieve this, May and Ford want to forge a better relationship
with the University’s Division of Student Affairs, headed by
Vice President E. Royster Harper, in order to have have greater
influence over administrative decisions, specifically
Harper’s plan for the Greek system. As a member of the Greek
community, Ford wants to establish a Greek life task force to
investigate the effects of the plan and work to develop an
alternative approved by both the Greek community and the
administration.
The candidates also propose to expand the role of Advanced
Placement credits. AP credits currently place students out of
prerequisite courses. The current system works. Students attend
college to take college courses, and should not be able to
substitute classes taken in high school for University classes
taught by professors.
Another proposal would alter the size of credit brackets that
determine students’ registration dates. Under the current
system, each bracket has a range of 15 credits. The new system
would give each credit bracket a range of five credits, which is an
improvement. A student with 75 credits should not be put on equal
footing as a student who has 89 credits, and the narrowing of the
credit brackets would make sure that students with more credits
will get their preferred classes.
While May and Ford are running unopposed, this does not mean
that voting in this election is meaningless. LSA-SG is an important
institution that deserves to be taken seriously, and a drastic drop
in voter turnout would be detrimental. The Daily endorses LAUREN
MAY and RYAN FORD for president and vice president for
this election.