After meeting with the presidential candidates for Undergraduate Student Government, The BG News editorial board has decided not to endorse any candidate, as a unanimous consensus could not be reached between the Grohe/Meade ticket and the Senn/Parker ticket.
Though the editorial board felt that Nadia Alzamami and Ashley Robinson had plans that would take USG in a more inclusive direction, we agreed that they lacked the experience with the organization and University administration to be able to put these plans into effect. Their plans to build relationships with the Bowling Green city community, organizations on campus and capital planning would simply stretch USG in too many directions.
Despite not serving in USG this year, the two did show a good understanding of the structure of the organization. Their vision for a student government that truly reflects and represents the student body is admirable, and with a year of experience in USG, we believe they could have been strong contenders.
Candidates Victor Senn and Danielle Parker demonstrated the strengths of a long history with USG and a complete understanding of its inner workings, especially Parker, who has served in USG since her freshman year. She is also currently chief of staff for USG President Brian Kocheiser. The many leadership positions the two have held on campus have given them established connections with faculty and administrators, which would aid in immediate responses from the University.
We believe Senn and Parker would have no trouble leading USG into action; however, our concern was that their connection to USG’s current leadership may prevent them from seeking to make any significant changes in the organization’s structure.
Trenten Grohe and Kaylee Meade presented a strong plan of action, outlining ways to combat issues with a lack of student involvement in USG and a need to steer the organization on a more proactive path. They were adamant that they would get senators more connected to their constituents.
Their course of action was detailed and sincerely sought input from the University’s many student organizations. However in our opinion, the two do not have as well-established a relationship with the administration as Senn and Parker, and their plans to connect with student organizations were ambitious enough that they may be overextending themselves.
Considering these strengths and weaknesses, it is the opinion of the editorial board that we could not endorse one ticket over the other in regards to Senn/Parker and Grohe/Meade. Both had similar views on many of the issues facing students, and the only differences were in the strength of connections, clear strategy for increasing student involvement and in opinion of the productiveness of USG. We believe a win by either ticket will place USG in competent, capable hands.
