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LSA-SG candidates determine key issues

The three presidential slates for LSA-Student Government point to academic concerns -- such as the restructuring of the foreign language requirement and the add/drop deadline -- as the race's critical issues.

All three tickets said they consider similar issues to be the most important concerns facing the next president.

"The thing separating the candidates is not the issues, but the way we approach them," said James Kovacs, a current LSA-SG representative running for president on the Students' Party ticket. LSA-SG Rep. Sara Deringer is the vice president on the ticket.

The candidates' main concerns include expanding the list of available classes that fulfill the Race or Ethnicity requirement, pushing the deadline to drop a class back to later in the term, improving the quality of LSA graduate student instructors, increasing the level of student involvement in governmental affairs and decreasing the LSA foreign language requirement.

"In the past the government has concentrated on lobbying the dean's office about academic concerns. We have seen limited results from that lobbying," Kovacs said. "We really think the government needs to change its focus."

Michigan Student Assembly Rep. Paul Scublinsky, who is running for LSA-SG president on the Michigan Party ticket, said LSA government has to get students and faculty members more involved in its activities.

"We need to reach out to the students," Scublinsky said. "Most students today have no idea what LSA-SG is -- we need to get out and talk to students."

Scublinsky said he did not view the LSA-SG presidency as a step down from his current position as an MSA representative. "Only LSA-SG can deal with LSA curriculum -- a curriculum that effects thousands and thousands of students," he said. Eve Madison is running with Scublinsky on the ticket.

LSA-SG's budget chair, Jeff Berger, is running for president on the Wolverine Party slate with LSA-SG external affairs officer Barry Rosenberg. Berger said the government's lobbying had been successful and will probably continue.

"I think LSA-SG has received a lot of positive recognition because of its academic policies," he said.

While the candidates plan to concentrate on similar issues, each had different ideas for the government's future.

Berger said the most important function of LSA-SG was to allocate funding to student groups. "That is the heart and soul of what we do," he said.

The Michigan Party slate plans to increase LSA-SG involvement on the Code. "We need to teach students who apply for a judiciary position how to do their jobs before they begin them," Scublinsky said.

For Kovacs, the government's main objective should be to do more for student groups than just allocate funds and that the government had to get beyond political battles. "We need to focus on the issues, not the parties and the politics," he said.

Despite the advice of LSA-SG President Rick Bernstein, the race felt the influence of party politics last week.

On March 13, LSA-SG election director Mark Borgman issued a ruling stating that because of a technicality in the election code, both the Michigan and Students' Parties would not be able to have their names listed on the ballot.

The decision would have required both tickets to be listed as independents on the ballot. The election director's ruling lead to a restraining order to delay the printing of the election ballots, heated debating and name-calling between all three parties and the near de-recognition of the government by MSA.

The election director later reversed his decision allowing all party names to appear on the ballot. After Borgman's reversal the restraining order was lifted yesterday.