After a year of nothing from current SGA president Andrew Rose, we are pleased to witness an unusually deep and talented field of candidates. Of them all, Emma Simson, with her level-headed and realistic plans, is the best candidate this year to bring meaning back to the position of Student Government Association president.
Simson has proven throughout her campaign to be an experienced, grounded and mature candidate. Her record this year as the vice president of academic affairs has been positive – she lobbied for tax-free and cheaper textbooks both on and off the campus and is involved with on-campus issues such as making professor evaluations open to students.
Along with the Block Party, Simson has outlined a realistic platform that includes lobbying candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial race on behalf of students, continuing to push for cheaper textbooks, working with the county and university to push for increased policing in College Park and starting a new student tradition by holding a crab fest on McKeldin Mall – which she has promised will not be funded with student activity fees.
These promises are not empty, and we trust Simson would be the kind of authority who remains true to her word.
However, like all endorsements, this one does not come without reservations. Kip Edwards, the presidential candidate with the YOU Party, seems the most likely candidate to take advantage of the authority that comes with being president to speak publicly on behalf of the student body. He came a close second in the consideration for endorsement, but his platform ideas are far too half-baked and unrealistic for students to trust him with the position.
Nonetheless, Simson must absorb some of Edward’s governing philosophy – energetic lobbying and a certain maverick charm that can capture the attention of students and officials alike. This, tempered with Simson’s grounded nature, would likely result in a successful and progressive presidency. Ultimately though, realism is what Edwards lacks, as well as defined plans of action that can extend his attention-grabbing ability into real results. His ideas for rolling secondaries and a student pub were overly ambitious, and he failed to back them up with even a semblance of a plan.
Jahantab Siddiqui and the Results party have suffered from similarly ambiguous goals and overpromises. Siddiqui’s declarations that none of his legislators – if elected – will leave the SGA mid-term is ridiculous and symbolic of his bloated platform and goals. This, combined with a demonstrated inability to be an effective communicator throughout the election cycle, eliminated Siddiqui from consideration.
Josh Wert has added valuable commentary throughout the campaign cycle, especially about the SGA finance process. Unfortunately, his spheres of influence are too limited for an effective SGA president – Wert in fact stated he personally would be unable to lobby effectively in Annapolis if elected.
Andrew LoPresto makes a comedic return to the SGA elections once again. He was a positive and, at times, insightful candidate in the process; we hope that if nothing else, students listened to his messages to get out and vote.
Apart from the president, we endorse Daozhong Jin, incumbent vice president of finance and candidate for the same position in the Block Party, for re-election. The vice president of finance is too important of a position for the laughably weak candidates Sarah Shepson and Seth Gottlieb, neither of whom even have had experience in the SGA finance process.
Though we endorse Simson and Jin, we do not endorse the Block Party as a whole. Despite its recent efforts to distance itself from the current administration, many members of Simson’s Block Party have close ties to Rose’s failed year, and their declarations of disillusionment came too late to make a difference. We encourage students not to vote down party lines and support whoever can best represent the student body.
But no matter which candidates get elected, they must remember to fight the right fights in Annapolis, extend our lobbying influence to the county, continue developing relations with the City of College Park and introduce the on-campus and SGA reforms that have been promised by all parties.
