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Students' for LSA-SG

Kovacs, Deringer bring experienced leadership

While their styles are low-key, and they are less outspoken than their opponents', they possess the necessary experience, leadership and ability to effectively lead the government and represent the students. Kovacs has been on the government for three years. In addition to serving as its treasurer, he has served on nearly all of its committees. He is widely within LSA-SG. Deringer also has served as representative on the body for two years. Like Kovacs, she participated in many committees and served as chief judiciary.

Their platform consists of many solid ideas. They advocate the expansion of courses that the Race and Ethnicity Requirement encompasses, they plan to fight to keep practical journalism courses in the communication department and they want to create an LSA-SG newsletter for constituents.

Not only will these initiatives enhance the government's profile on campus, but they will improve student life as well. Their extensive experience on the body will be a great asset in translating these ideas into tangible results. Dedicated and driven, Kovacs and Deringer are genuinely interested in improving conditions for LSA students.

The Wolverine Party, led by presidential candidate Jeff Berger and vice presidential candidate Barry Rosenberg, shows potential. Berger has been a representative since 1993 and Rosenberg since last year. Many of their good ideas -- pushing back the drop/add deadline by a few weeks and reforming the credit/workload system -- are shared by the two other slates.

Their more original proposals border on implausible. They want to award bonuses to Graduate Student Instructors who are good teachers and to reform the tenure system to foster more focus on undergraduate students. Yet the candidates are not sure how the University can implement such reforms.

Berger and Rosenberg continually flaunt their connections within the LSA administration. While such contacts may afford them easy access to decision-makers, it is a troubling prospect. They could compromise important student positions in order to maintain such contacts. This would undermine the purpose of the organization and lead students to question whose interests the duo represent - the students' or their own.

The Michigan Party slate, led by presidential candidate Paul Scublinsky and vice presidential candidate Eve Madison, put forth a platform delineating the problems. Scublinsky, an MSA representative, is familiar with the organization and issues confronting it. Madison is a true outsider; she has never held a position on LSA-SG. While enthusiastic, her inexperience would hamper progress. She's more of a cheerleader than a serious campus leader.However, the pair are the only candidates discussing the need to retrain Code jurors and restructure the jury selection system -- despite the election's outcome, the winners should push for this initiative.

Vote Students' Party for LSA-SG.