BREAKING NEWS: Spencer and Ian announced as NISG President and Vice President

The Election Commission has ruled that last week's election results were miscounted. Spencer Walrath and Ian Goldsmith have officially been announced as NISG President and NISG Vice President. More coverage coming tomorrow.

BREAKING NEWS: Election Results Contested

Within the past hour, an election grievance has been filed with the Election Commission to contest the results of Wednesday's NISG Presidential and Vice Presidential election. No final decision has been made, but the commission is expected to meet tonight.

This afternoon, I received a copy of the tally sheets from election night. I was trying to put together numbers to see who had won which residence halls and colleges in preparation for Wednesday's election coverage. While going through the on-campus numbers, I noticed a huge lead for Walrath-Goldsmith. They had won every constituency. When I started to enter off-campus numbers, I noticed something odd.

For some reason, the order of the candidates on the spreadsheet had changed. This was the first time they had been listed in a different order out of all of the 70+ ballots. The official results have listed that Walrath-Goldsmith had gotten 87 off-campus votes, Greenway-Beaves had 605, and Reed-Simonson 166. I was shocked by the numbers.

I went to the NISG office to look at the official ballots. It appears the order of candidates on the tally sheet had been incorrectly changed. They no longer represented the actual ballot results. A quick tally of election results show Walrath-Goldsmith taking over 75% of the vote.

Later this evening, I will present this evidence to the Election Commission for a ruling. We'll keep you posted on their decision.

The NISGElections.com coverage team will be live on http://livestream.com/NISGElections at 8:30 to discuss this breaking news.

Reed Refrains from an Endorsement

In tomorrow's issue of the Northern Iowan, former Presidential Candidates Dakotah Reed is publishing a letter to the editor encouraging students to vote on Wednesday in the run-off election. I had expected to see an endorsement for Greenway-Beaves, but it appears that none is forthcoming. We're still unsure if Simonson will be making an endorsement.

Things haven't been falling into place for Greenway-Beaves. Last week, we thought they may be getting endorsements from President Joel Anderson and Reed-Simonson, both of which had the potential to push the race in their favor. It appears none of those endorsements are coming. Greenway-Beaves will have to get inventive to make up Walrath-Goldsmith's 300 vote edge.

Updated Platform from Walrath-Goldsmith

In a blog post earlier today, Walrath-Goldsmith followed Greenway-Beaves lead with a platform update. Here's my breakdown:

Senate Transparency
Wonderful plan. Back in 2008, I was elected as a Senator for my first time. In those days, Senate didn't have an official attendance policy and it was at the (unenforced) whim of the Speaker. I set out to change that. In the course of a few months, we removed a handful of Senators from office. Guess what happened? Senators started coming to meetings. It's about time Senators were called out on their other responsibilities.

Greek
Pandering.

Contract Breaks
Will not happen. Ever.

Greek Clusters
It might be a decent idea. It'll also probably never happen. The Greek Community has worked on this since before my time.

Greek Directors
You'll have them approved by IFC? Whose cabinet is this? I don't like the precedent it establishes.

Meals
Alright, I like this one.

GLBTQ Center
I'm curious to hear about funding for this. In addition, as the founder of One Iowa at UNI, I'm disappointed that Walrath-Goldsmith have decided to pick and choose between the LGBT groups to include in this conversation.

Reducing Plastic
I had the same conversation with the DoR when I ran. These are all really good ideas -- it will just be a matter of getting students to buy-in to it. It's certainly worth the effort. Walrath has shown a dedication to green issues and, if anyone can pull it off, it'll be him.

Rhonda and Adam Update Website and Platform

With things calming down a bit after the election results were announced, Rhonda and Adam took the time they had to make some changes to the appearance of their website and unveiled a new, extended platform. Both of which are fantastic upgrades for the ticket. I would encourage you to check it out at their website: www.rhondaandadam.com

Where have all the posters gone?

Usually during campaigns it isn't surprising to hear of posters being torn down by passionate supporters of the other ticket(s). However it is surprising to see that both Spencer and Ian and Rhonda and Adam are saying that they have seen their posters disappearing. So if you have taken down a poster or thrown it away, fess up and let someone know. These candidates spend a lot of money and energy to get those posters up around campus and it is not fair to them to have to deal with something like this.

Hope both tickets can get this resolved.

A Job Well Done

Candidates, supporters, and reporters all filled the Maucker Union anxiously awaiting the election results last night an hour went by. And another. And another. It wasn't until nearly 11pm that the election results were finally announced by Commissioner Gage Rewerts. One thing that many students often don't consider, is that someone had to count all those votes. With write-in candidates galore this election cycle, it took the election commission extra time in order to ensure that every name was counted and done so accurately. I had originally questioned Rewerts ability to develop a system to count all of the write-ins, but today I stand corrected. The Commission did an excellent job of working to make sure that the elections were fair and that each student's vote mattered.

While we all would have liked the process to be a bit quicker, in the end, we can rest a bit easier knowing that the votes were counted, recounted, double and triple checked, and that the elections were valid. I give a tip of the hat to Commisioner Rewerts and all of the members of the Election Commission and thank them for dedicating their time and talents to this important part of the Northern Iowa Student Government. It's a tough job that will come with criticism and no fame or glory, but someone's gotta do it. Thank you.

Election Results

President/Vice President:
Walrath/Goldsmith: 1118*
Greenway/Beaves: 805*
Reed/Simonson: 253

*A Run-Off Election between Spencer and Ian and Rhonda and Adam will take place next week

1st Constitutional Amendment - Senate Reform 1387 Yes, 403 No
2nd Constitutional Amendment - State of the Student Body 1692 Yes, 97 No

College of Business Administration
Chris Miller 191
Michael Lunn 140

College of Education
Blake Findley 284

College of Natural Sciences and Humanities and Fine Arts
Christina Johnson 26

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Jared Parker 175

Graduate College
Holly Botzum 6

University At-Large
Ryan Alfred 986
Andrew Miller 977
Catherine AuJong 963
Leanne "Tuesday" Schruer 43
Kyle Woollums 34

University Apartments Unfilled
ROTH Jackie Keeling 4
Rider Colton Wiley 4
Shull Unfilled
Campbell Jon Preston 46
Dancer Zeke Peterson 4
Bender Chase Aunspach 83
Bartlett Cory Derringer 18
Hagemann Deidre Seick 2
Noehren Corey Cooling 103
Lawther Erin Trampel 6

Off Campus
Stefanie McGraw 374
Nate Konrardy 360
EmilyAnn Brueck 53
Josh Wilson 30
Laura Castro-Delgado 26
John Preston 25
Emily Droessler 23
Joe Enabit 19
Jesse Meyer 17
Jordan Bancroft-Smithe 14
John Chesley 13
Levi Hupke 13
Caroline Davis 12
Travis Stitzman 11
Andrew Scherf 9
Owen Sadewasser 8
Cody Meyer 6
Skyler Trunck 6

Total number of ballots cast: 2256

Run-Off Anounced

Next Wednesday, Walrath-Goldsmith will be competing with Greenway-Beaves in a run-off election. We'll have full Senate results sometime tomorrow. Walrath-Goldsmith have announced they will not contest the results at this time.

You can watch our coverage below.

Watch live streaming video from nisgelections at livestream.com

We'll be back next Wednesday with more live coverage.

Live Streaming of the Election Results Tonight

If you haven't voted yet...go vote! A complete list of candidates is on the post below this one.

Tonight at 8pm (or a little earlier), Sunday Night Delight co-host Michael Dippold and I will be in the Union providing live coverage of the election results. We'll be interviewing candidates, campaign teams, and students as we count down the minutes until the results are released. We'll also try to get the candidates on for a post-results interview as well. You can watch the stream here.

On that note, if you're a candidate, working for a campaign, or a student interested in the campaign -- please find Dippold and I in the Union and we'll put you on the air with us.

VOTE!

UPDATE 1: Holly Botzum for Graduate Senator.
UPDATE 2: Orijit Kar for Off-Campus Senator.
UPDATE 3: Conor Stevens for Off-Campus Senator.
UPDATE 4: Abraham Swingle for Graduate Senator.
UPDATE 5: Jessica Seier for Off-Campus Senator.

Voting has begun! Remember to cast your vote today or tomorrow (and here's some instructions on how to do it). Below is a list of write-ins candidates (and all candidates, actually). Don't leave them off your ballot!

College of Business

-Michael Lunn (Off-Campus Senator, Junior, Economics Major) Facebook Page

-Chris Miller (Vice Chair of the Organization and Finance Committee and College of Business Senator, Sophomore, Economics Major) Facebook Page

College of Education

Blake Findley (Freshmen, Social Science Teaching)

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Jared Parker (Off-Campus Senator, Junior, History and Political Science Majors) Facebook Page

Off-Campus (17)

-Nate Konrardy (Director of Greek Relations-Fraternities, Sophomore, Communication Major)

-Stefanie McGraw (Junior, Spanish and Philosophy Majors)

Bender Hall

-Chase Aunspach (Rhonda and Adam Campaign Manager, Sophomore, Political Communication and Communication Majors)

Noehren Hall

-Corey Cooling (Sophomore, Physics and Philosophy Majors) Facebook Event

-Kelechi Ubochi (NISG External Relations Committee Member, Freshmen, Biology Major)

University At-Large (5)

-Ryan Alfred (Chair of the Government and Legislative Affairs Committee, University At-Large Senator, Junior Social Science Teaching Major)

-Catherine Au Jong (Sophomore, Accounting and Management Information Systems Majors) Facebook Page, Facebook Event

-Andrew Miller (Attorney General, Vice Chair of the Government and Legislative Affairs Committee, Campbell Hall Senator, Sophomore, Political Science) Facebook Page

OPEN SEATS

University At-Large (2)*
- Kyle Woollums (Facebook Page) (Blog)
- Leanna-Tuesday Schreur (Facebook Event)

University Apartments

ROTH*
- Jackie Keeling

Shull Hall

Rider Hall

Lawther Hall

Hagemann Hall

Dancer Hall

Campbell Hall*
- Aleigh Glazier (Facebook Event)
- Johnathan Preston (Facebook Event)

Bartlett Hall*
- Kayla Rethwisch (Facebook Event)
- Cory Derringer (Facebook Event)

Off-Campus (15)*
- Laura Castro (Facebook Page)
- John Chesley (Facebook Page)
- Andrew Scherf (Facebook Event)
- Jesse Meyer (Facebook Page)
- Joe Enabnit (Facebook Event)
- EmilyAnn Brueck (Facebook Event)
- Caroline Davis (Facebook Event)
- Jordan Bancroft-Smithe (Facebook Event)
- Emily Droessler (Facebook Event)
- John Preston (Facebook Event)
- Alexander Zenor
- Orijit Kar
- Conor Stevens
- Jessica Seier

Graduate College

- Holly Botzum (Facebook Event)
- Abraham Swingle

College of Natural Science and College of Humanities and Fine Arts*

- Colin Sandberg (Facebook Page) 
- Christina Johnson (Facebook Event)

CBA Senate Race

Over in the College of Business Administration, there's an interesting race developing between two sitting Senators in one of the year's only contested races. Incumbent CBA Senator Chris Miller is squaring off with At-Large Senator Michael Lunn. Miller serves as Vice-Chair for NISG's Organization and Finance Committee while Lunn is the new Vice-Chair of the Student Affairs committee.

As a former CBA Senator, I'm particularly interested in this race. The College of Business provides opportunities for Senators to interact the the Dean and student leaders that few other colleges can rival. When I was Senator, most of these student leaders were used to receiving funding from the CBA and had no idea NISG money was available. While most Senators have to develop a communication system with constituents and invent ways to figure out what they want, the CBA Senator can hit the ground running from day one with the amazing student groups in the college.

It's no surprised Lunn makes funding the first plank on his platform. He pledges to serve as a middle man for CBA groups requesting fund. Lunn goes on to address green initiatives and his dislike of the Professional Readiness Program (PRP). This passage, from his PRP plank, really stuck out to me:

Now I’m not exactly sure how feasible this subject is to change, but no one ever accomplished anything just by simply sitting around and doing nothing. Well, maybe Gandhi and that one mass of Hippies that just sat around in ‘protest.’ I’m not against this program what so ever; let me get that point across. I believe in the underlying principle, just not the way it’s run (much like every religious affiliation and their view on other denominations). Woah, take it easy, I’m Catholic, I’m allowed to make jokes every once in awhile to ease the tension.

I'm really not a fan of this sort of unprofessionalism in platforms, but others may disagree with me.

Miller starts off his platform by discussing the PRP as well. He supports it and wants to spend more time learning professional skills rather than investigating majors in the college. In addition, Miller wants to work with Career Services to conduct mock interviews for freshmen and sophomores. This free service is incredible and I'm glad to see Miller would like to see it utilized.

The incumbent goes on to present his plan for communicating with constituents and promoting student groups. This isn't the typical lip service -- Miller actually presents a plan to do it. He echoes Lunn's commitment to helping with funding and touts his knowledge of funding guidelines.

I contacted both candidates to learn a little bit more about their platforms and experiences campaigning. Miller impressed me with the attitude he's taken for being in one of Senate's only contested races:

To be completely honest my first reaction was, "Really? I couldn't get an uncontested race like everyone else?" As the days have gone by though, I have started to remember the things that we talked about in senate about why contested races were good for the student body. If I wasn't running against anyone I would maybe (just maybe) update my facebook on the day of the election to say "Re-Elect Chris as CBA Senator". Now that I'm in the race, I am doing the things that all senators should be doing regularly. Making a platform, meeting with student organizations, and just talking with students in general are all things that are 1) broadening my knowledge about the people I represent and 2) helping me develop new ideas to help my constituents.

He has done just that. Miller is probably the only candidate in this election who has met with student organizations and actively campaigned for his seat.

Unfortunately, Lunn did not respond to my questions.

I've been lucky enough to spend the last month working with both candidates in Senate. From day one, I've been impressed with Chris Miller. He advocated for Senate Reform, stood up for equality among student organizations, and has served as Vice-Chair of the hardest working committee on Senate -- and he's done it all as a freshman. More than anything, I'm impressed by Miller's refusal to tacitly consent to the will of Senate.  He speaks up when few other Senators will.

Tomorrow, I'll be casting my vote for Chris Miller to continue serving as my Senator in the College of Business. When advocating for a smaller Senate, I talked about how it would make Senators more accountable; how it recruit Senators who really cared about the job and their constituents. When advocating for a smaller Senate, I wanted more Senators to be like Chris Miller. I'm thrilled to see what his future in NISG will entail.

The Crazies Are Coming

Just when you thought allegations of early campaigning couldn't be anymore outrageous and frivolous, Michael Kingery enters the fray with this absolutely ridiculous Facebook group:

Students Against Rigged NISG Elections! was created to express outrage against NISGelections.com, which functions as an “independent” media outlet covering the NISG election cycle. This website is written and monitored by a single individual, Trevor Boeckmann, a current member of NISG, and he has recently explicitly claimed that he engages in editorializing and that the website functions as an advocacy medium. 

I've heard that if you "put" quotes "around" something, it "automatically" makes "it" suspicious. To be fair, Adam Haselhuhn is the co-founder and has written a number of posts as well.

NISGelections.com is nothing but a blatant attempt at electioneering and propaganda.

...what? Editorializing is electioneering? And who is this propaganda for?

Not only do we feel that this is a disservice to UNI student voters who are being manipulated by biased coverage, but we feel this website takes the power out of individual candidacies in campaigning to voters and places it within a shadowy behind-the-scenes entity. We feel that students should be able to make their own decisions, and should not be subjugated to the undue influence of a single individual who has stakes in the election outcome.

Then don't listen to me. Seriously, it's not that difficult. And, for what it's worth, NISGElections.com is an attempt to bring things out of the shadows.

We feel that an entity monitoring election coverage should not be advocating a specific way to vote. However, the site has also endorsed multiple candidacies and has called for specific rulings through the election commission. Nisgelections.com, we feel, has not only committed numerous NISG election rules violations, but due to the timing of its posts has also engaged in early campaigning.

NISGElections.com should really strive to be more like The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the countless other publications who endorse candidates every election cycle. Welcome to the world of media, where endorsements are commonplace.

The Election Rules Section 1 definition of formal campaigning is:
"Actions of formal campaigning include but are not limited to, making buttons and t-shirts generally available; posting flyers; holding press conferences or rallies; communicating to a group of students; creating publicly available electronic social networking groups; posting the location of or information on a campaign website; issuing/allowing the dissemination of information through e-mail, text message, postal or campus mail; etc."
We believe NISGelections.com has certainly communicated to a group of students, has posted information on candidacies on a website, and has disseminated information widely related to the elections. Posts began as early as January 18, 2011. On this date, the author, an NISG senator, introduced himself and the Presidential/Vice Presidential tickets. Information on candidates was disseminated prior to the election campaign season beginning on February 1, 2011. Therefore, according to the election rules, NISGelections.com has engaged in campaigning and early campaigning.

Election rules govern those running for office, not the press.

We feel that this site is entirely illegal. It may have been approved by the Northern Iowan, but has not been condoned by NISG. The Northern Iowan is an NISG recognized student organization, and must in turn follow the rules of NISG.

"Illegal" does not mean what you think it does.

We believe this entire election cycle has lost its legitimacy and we call for the Northern Iowa Student Government to take action to either 1)remove NISG recognition of the Northern Iowan or 2) censor NISGelections.com

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Not only is what you are proposing absurd, it's actually illegal. Best of luck to Kingery is his bid to censor the press.

In the meantime, NISGElections.com will continue to provide you the best coverage of this year's election. Stay tuned in these next couple of days as the elections unfold.

Debate Wrap-Up

Last week, the candidates for NISG's Presidential election squared off for a debate in front of about 100 voters. The candidates discussed their platforms, diversity, and budget cuts, among other issues. Follow along with my wrap-up by watching the video. I won't dwell on the details -- you can watch the video yourself -- but I will give some general thoughts and comments along the way.

The opening statements went as expected. The candidates touted their credentials and hit on key platform issues. Walrath-Goldsmith discussed their service transcript and outreach to students. Greenway-Beaves spent their time discussing why they chose to run. I was disappointed they didn't take this time to hit on their platform. Reed-Simonson briefly highlighted their lobbying plans, but again, I wish they had spent more time on their platform.

During moderator questions, I was glad to see Walrath-Goldsmith address the lack of interaction they've had with student groups. I'm suspect about claims that things will be better once elected, however. Current NISG President Joel Anderson had concerns about the ticket's pledge to keep the NISG office open from 8am-9pm. NISG's Executive Branch has a lot on their plate, and every hour in the office is an hour not interacting with students; an hour not doing schoolwork. They're student-leaders, Anderson cautioned, not leader-students. Whoever becomes the next President and Vice President needs to remember the order of these priorities.

I was thrilled to see Greenway-Beaves had done their homework about CareerCat. I had spent the afternoon with Career Services discussing their proposal and I thought I had the ticket stumped. Many times, it's easy for candidates to throw planks into a platform when they think it sounds good. It's much more difficult to have a well-researched list of ideas.

Reed-Simonson danced around the open and closed groups policy. In discussing the Senate's decision to allow closed student organizations, Simonson claimed "the level of exclusivity allowed is very low." This is not the case. There are no guidelines on how exclusive a group can be. I actually agree with Simonson on the issue, I just wish he'd join me in opposing what Senate did.

Adam Sorellea asked the candidates about the elitist attitude of Senate. All of the candidates talked about communication -- but none actually talked about Senate (besides maybe Beaves). In December, the Northern Iowan Editorial Staff, Adam, and I all wrote articles about how self-serving Senate could be. The candidates shouldn't shy away from admitting that. The original Walrath-Goldsmith platform even called Senate "stagnant and self absorbed." Embrace that view if you believe it!

Walrath-Goldsmith pitched the idea of an LGBT Center out of the blue. I'd like some details. (And Ian, don't forget about One Iowa when discussing LGBT student groups!) I was glad to see Greenway-Beaves discuss co-ed housing. That's always been a pet issue of mine. They also addressed the much-neglected transgendered community.

Greenway nailed the question about being a female running for Student Body President. She brought humor, addressed the problem, and made it about more than just being a woman.

After talking with students after the debate, I'd be surprised if Tuesday night changed the minds of many voters. There weren't many hard hits. The candidates were polite and stuck to their platforms. To me, the winner of the night was Reed-Simonson. They legitimized themselves as a real competitor in this race. They held their own with questions and found a slogan for the last week of campaigning -- "Your Voice, Magnified". Our (highly unscientific) poll seems to agree. Many have seen them as the relative unknown in this race. While I don't think their performance will sway any Walrath-Goldsmith or Greenway-Beaves supporters, they now find themselves with an opportunity to make up ground with undecided voters. I've heard rumors that they're planning a last minute advertising blitz. It's this sort of unprecedented strategy that may just give them a chance in the race. I dubbed them the "Dark Horse" of the election from the start. We'll see if they can live up to the name on Wednesday.

Endorsements and Weekend Events

It's been a long few days and I've been out of the state (and out of the loop). So, if there's anything big I've missed, please let me know. A few things you should know:

• Walrath-Goldsmith is hosting a ...rave? I'll be there.
• The debate and radio show with the candidates are both now available online. As soon as this post goes up, I'll be (finally) writing my debate wrap-up. Expect that by early morning.
• See that "Senate Elections" tab in the upper right of your screen? You should click it. A huge number of UNI students are now running write-in bids for Senate spots and NISGElections.com is the only source for a comprehensive list.

In the past few days, I've received a lot of feedback about my post on the constitutional amendment you'll be voting on later this week. A couple questioned my choice to advocate for a specific vote. I want to take a minute to discuss NISGElections.com's stance on endorsements and issue advocacy. When Adam and I approached the Northern Iowan with our plan to start a blog, one of our first stipulations was complete editorial control. We wanted to choose what we covered, what we said, and how we said it. The NI complied and I can't thank them enough for that. Any choice of endorsement or issue advocacy is entirely the choice of the author and does not represent the views of the Northern Iowan.

Here is my stance. I value the unbiased nature of this blog, but I value the future of NISG even more. I have, and will continue, to make endorsements and take stances on contested races and controversial issues when I believe one side or person is unquestionably the right choice -- particularly when the future of NISG hangs in the balance. Stopping a frivolous early campaigning charge is unquestionably the right decision. Turning Senate into a smaller, more efficient body is unquestionably the right decision. I will not hesitate to advocate for these issues.

Now -- spoiler alert -- I will not be making an endorsement in the Presidential and Vice Presidential race. Doing so would certainly not be without precedent (I'm not quite sure why I keep deciding to bring up painful memories), but I'm not convinced any ticket stands out from the others. All six candidates would be great for the future of NISG.

I hope that clears things up. Feel free to sound off in the comments if you have any thoughts.

Spencer and Ian Respond to Readers' Questions

1. How will you work to make good on your campaign promises even if you lose this race?

We will apply to re-join the Senate and continue to serve students through that venue. We will also continue our work in other student organizations and continue pursuing our campaign promises. Spencer's already started working on them and he sees no reason to stop if he doesn't win the election. Winning or losing an election is not what's important, it's serving the student that are important.

2. My question is, if this act was to come up for a vote in the US House or Senate, would the candidates support this legislation and lobby for it?

We believe that the NISG President and Vice President have a lot on their plate as it is. Whoever wins needs to focus their attention on the issues that most directly affect the students of UNI. We understand the importance of staying on top of national and local policies across a broad spectrum of topics, but we feel that it would be inappropriate for us to take a public stance on behalf of all students on some of those issues. However, if the student body came together in support of or opposition to this act, we would respond accordingly.

3.As the President and Vice-President are comparable to Ra's, just for the entire campus, how do the candidates propose to develop that sense of identity and community for the entirety of UNI.

As current RAs, we feel that we have the appropriate skills and knowledge and are the best suited to this task. In fact, a key component of our platform is that we want to foster a sense of community amongst the student body. We'd like to increase student attendance to events on campus through our Panther Points system. This system creates an incentive for students to get out of their room or house and take part in UNI traditions and events, enriching their experience here. We're also pushing for more weekend programs, giving students a reason to stay here on the weekend where they can meet new people and strengthen friendships. Besides our combined 4 years experience as RAs, another example of community building is seeing students rally behind the interlude dance, which was created for this very purpose - to give us a sense of identity and pride. For this contribution, Ian, along with fellow dance creators Scott Connerley and Tyler Wright, have just become the first students in UNI history to be honorary UNI athletic letter winners! They are receiving athletic letters and lettermen jackets during Saturday's basketball game against George Mason for "the initiative you took to create what is the first real athletic tradition owned by the UNI student-body" as stated by Troy Dannen, Athletic Director for UNI Athletics.

4. How would you get Senators to accurately represent their constituencies while they serve in NISG?

It's long been stated in the NISG By-laws that senators are required to attend either their dormitory Senate or their college's Dean's Advisory Council. However, many senators do not do this minimal requirement and the off-campus and at-large senators are held to no such standards. For starters, Spencer and Ian would check in with Deans and dormitory presidents to make sure that their senators are attending those meetings. For all of the other senators, we would require that they make some sort of weekly attempt to contact or meet with their constituents. Whether it be through a facebook page that they update weekly or by holding "office hours" somewhere on campus once a week where students can contact them. This is very similar to the President's Column that Spencer would write for the Northern Iowan and the Union-hours that both Spencer and Ian would have. In addition, we would make it clear that our suggestions box could be used to communicate with senators in addition to ourselves.

Listen to radio interviews of all the candidates!

I just finished interviewing the three tickets with Michael Dippold on Trevor Boeckmann's radio show, Sunday Night Delight. It was a great opportunity to question and hear from all the candidates, so be sure to listen to the interviews in their entirety, courtesy of Kevin Shannon: http://www.kevinjshannon.com/election2011.html.

Watch the Debate!

To watch the entirety of Tuesday's debate, go to this page: http://live.uni.edu/2011/02/15/nisg-2011-debate and click on "On your computer" under "Archive options." You will need Real Player to view the debate; it's free and can be downloaded here: http://www.real.com/.

Be sure to watch the entire to debate so that you can make an informed decision this Tuesday and Wednesday!

Reed-Simonson Responds to Readers' Questions

Courtesy of Al Hiland, Reed-Simonson Campaign Manager

1. How will you work to make good on your campaign promises even if you lose this race?

Our campaign is dedicated to serving the University. Dakotah will continue to look for places to work with the executive office as well as continuing his work with students on financial literacy. Zach, who currently sits on the Supreme Court, would continue to serve the student body in that role and would consider a transition to senate over the long term. As a ticket they would submit a list of policy issues and recommendations to the winning ticket.

2. My question is, if this act was to come up for a vote in the US House or Senate, would the candidates support this legislation and lobby for it?

Strictly speaking, the first priority of the President and Vice President is dealing with issues that directly affect students at the University. That being said, our campaign sees itself as the voice of the students amplified. If the student body makes it clear that they want to be represented by our administration on this issue we will take this obligation on.

3. As the President and Vice-President are comparable to Ra's, just for the entire campus, how do the candidates propose to develop that sense of identity and community for the entirety of UNI.

We agree that creating a sense of community is important. We plan to do this in three ways. First-create an application for droid/iphone that has a comprehensive event calendar so students know about all of hte events on campus. Second-promote diversity and dialogue within the student body. This includes expanding orientation programs to include multicultural education so that all students are more comfortable at UNI. Third-we would work to make more information available about what student organizations we have on campus. We see the student organizations at UNI as a great way to get students involved, and educating students about their options is the best way to get them involved. The guiding principle of our view on building a community is that students are motivated and will be involved if given the right resources.

I'm going on TV!

Just a couple of announcements...

I'll be on UNI TV this afternoon with John Anderson to discuss the elections. I'll let everyone know when it's going to air.

All of the candidates will be KULT's Sunday Night Delight this Sunday from 6-9 with John Anderson and Michael Dippold. You can listen to the stream on KULT's website or tune into 94.5. Be sure to call in with questions -- (319) 273-KULT.

Constitutional Changes

NISG's website has just posted the full texts of the Constitutional changes on the ballot that year. Both ballot initiatives will require a majority vote of students to be adopted.

First is SSB 2010-50. This bill would require the NISG President to deliver a State of the Student Body every semester, rather than year.

The other is a little more controversial, SSB 2011-34. This bill would drastically shrink the size of and restructure Senate. There has been much written on the bill by the Northern Iowan and yours truly. Perhaps the sponsor list has me a bit biased, but I believe this to be one of the most important changes affecting NISG since I started coming to school here. I'd ask you all to join me in voting "yes" on it. I'd love to address any questions or concerns you have about the bill. SSB 2011-34 would do the following:

• Create a Senate seat for every college on campus, plus an additional seat for every 750 students enrolled in that college.
• Currently, the breakdown for seats would be CNS + CHFA: 6, CBA: 4, CSBS: 3, CoE: 4 (soon to be 5), Graduate: 3, and one seat for majors without a specific college.

Be sure to follow the Northern Iowans twitter coverage the Senate meeting tonight!

Full Election Commission Wrap-Up

As promised, I want to give you all a full write-up on the Election Commission meeting from Monday. Those of you following my tweets know that I left the meeting furious with just about everyone. In full disclosure, I do not have a copy of the charges filed by Attorney General Andrew Miller, but I think I can surmise his arguments. If I do this unfairly, please let me know, and I'd be happy to correct it.

First, some background. As I have discussed before, I ran for NISG President in 2009. During the election, we were charged with early campaigning and, because of multiple factors, it ruined my campaign. I don't wish to re-try the case, but I do maintain our innocence to this day. The Supreme Court eventually prohibited us from campaigning for the final week, but that wasn't what doomed us. It was all of the time we couldn't spend with students because we were meeting with the Commission. It was the tainted publicity it gave our ticket.

On Friday, Andrew Miller charged the Walrath-Goldmsith campaign with early campaigning -- citing my Supreme Court case -- because of their promotion of the Interlude Dance. Miller argued that, because it gave Walrath-Goldsmith popularity during the race, it was early campaigning. This is obviously absurd.

Now, don't get me wrong. One of the reasons I'm hesitant about the Walrath-Goldsmith campaign is because of the Interlude Dance. In my humble opinion, it should not be on their website. It should not be mentioned during campaigning. I want my President and Vice President to be professionals who can lobby elected officials and trying to capitalize off a dance cannot further that goal. Then again, I lost my race, so take that advice with a grain of salt.

Digression over -- the dance itself doesn't matter. The Election Commission correctly (and as I predicted) laughed the charges out of the room, but that's not the point. Miller's aggressive and inappropriate actions have left a smear on this race. Walrath-Goldsmith was forced to take time away from students during one of the busiest times in their lives to defend a ridiculous charge. I've been in their situation. It's more than just the time to prepare your defense -- it's the weight left on you. Miller tried to destroy months of Walrath and Goldsmith's lives and, despite how confidant they should have been in winning this race, that thought consumes you. In real courts, lawyers are disbarred for bringing frivolous and merit-less charges. I wish the same went for NISG.

My anger does not end with Senator Andrew Miller. Before discussing the case, the Election Commission voted to close the meeting to all non-members. This spineless move denies transparency to the accused. Some may argue judges and courts deliberate in private, but they also delineate their reasoning in opinions. The Election Commission did not do this and, with the short time frame they were working in, doing so would have been impossible. To assure the integrity of the process, keep your doors open, Election Commission.

Miller messaged me after the case to announce he would not appeal the decision. Kudos to him for that choice, but shame on him for bringing this in the first place.

Debate Recap

The debate is over! We'll be posting a full wrap-up with reactions by the end of the week that will include reactions from participants. Unfortunately, the hour long format prevented some questions from being asked and left candidates rushed. So, here's my offer to readers: if you have a question you wanted to ask (or what want to ask now), send it to me and I'll solicit answers from the tickets. Candidates: if you had a question you wanted a chance to answer with more time, submit it to me and I'd love to publicize it.

Here's my question. Candidates, four of you are going to lose on February 23rd, but you've all still brought great ideas to this campaign. How will you work to make good on your campaign promises even if you lose this race?

A question via e-mail: One of the jobs of the President and Vice President of the Student Body is to act as the lobbying body for the Student Body. This can include both state and federal representatives. One measure that was mentioned by President Obama during his State of the Union Address was the resurrection of the DREAM Act (an act that would provide residency for illegal immigrants as well as allow them to apply for federal loans and work study programs). My question is, if this act was to come up for a vote in the US House or Senate, would the candidates support this legislation and lobby for it?

Another via e-mail: I just went through the Socialview part of the RA application process; there the RLC's emphasized creating and promoting a strong sense of identity and a communal atmosphere in both the houses and halls for residents. As the President and Vice-President are comparable to Ra's, just for the entire campus, how do the candidates propose to develop that sense of identity and community for the entirety of UNI. While its not a concrete or definitive part of their potential job, in my opinion, it is one of the more imporant ones.

And a 4th via YouTube:


Check out the poll question on the right to share your feedback on tonight.

An Update

UPDATE: I mistakenly wrote the debate is in the ballroom tonight. It is, in fact, in the University room downstairs. My apologies.

A few things...

• Spencer and Ian were found innocent yesterday and Andrew Miller has decided not to appeal. I have a bunch of thoughts on the issue, but they'll have to be saved until later this week because...
• The debate is tonight! 7pm in the Maucker University room. Be there with questions.
• I want to apologize for a slowdown in blogging this week. My co-writer, Adam, has stepped down from NISGElections.com due to health reasons. He's doing fine, and will probably tweet now and again, but I'll be making the posts from here on out.

This week, be on the look-out for a debate recap, an overview of the CBA Senate race, and a continually updated list of write-in Senate candidates. Thanks for following NISGElections.com!

Deja Vu

This afternoon, it's believed the Election Commission will be meeting to discuss allegations of early campaigning by the Walrath-Goldsmith ticket. While details are still scarce, it's my understanding that the charges are being pressed by Attorney General Andrew Miller and are related to the Interlude Dance. I'll be live-tweeting the meeting starting at 3pm.

Early campaigning is a serious allegation. The election rules lay out the following penalties for the offense:

3. Specific infractions and suggested minimum (not required minimum) penalties
i. Early campaigning
1. Warning w/ Probation
2. Take down posters/banners/materials until campaigning starts
3. Delay campaign start date for campaign by the number of days election rules
violated
ii. Early campaigning with an intent to solicit votes
1. Warning w/ Probation
2. Stop candidate from talking to people until campaigning starts
3. Delay campaign start date for campaign by the number of days election rules
violate

Regardless of the Election Commission ruling, both parties have the option to appeal to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Andrew Clopton faced a similar situation two years ago and his court decided to push back the election by two weeks. The results were horrible. Student turnout was half of the previous year and the candidates were forced to spend far more than expected.

Again, we have to wonder what Andrew Miller is trying to do. On the face of it, these allegations are absurd and threaten to undermine any sort of legitimacy in the process. It is my expectation and hope that these charges will be laughed out of the Commission. Rest assured, if the elections are delayed, I will be the first to sponsor legislation in Senate to overturn that decision.

More updates coming as they become available.

The Debate is Coming!

Don't forget that this Tuesday is the debate we've all been waiting for. Here's the format we'll be having:

- 5 minute introduction
- 5 minute for each ticket to introduce themselves
- Questions from me 15-20 minutes
- Open mic for 20 minutes
- 2 minute closing statements from each ticket.

I need some help coming up with those questions. Have some ideas? Submit them to Trevor@nisgelections.com by Tuesday at noon.

Sleuthing

This morning, the Northern Iowan received an e-mail from a "Concerned Student" with the e-mail address thetruthaboutnisgelections@yahoo.com. It read:

I think these screen shots say enough. 
Sincerely,
Concerned Student 

Attached were the following screenshots:

...I'm not exactly sure how these speak for themselves. Are they allegations of bias? I'm really quite confused about it.

I decided to put my sleuthing to the test. Who was the anonymous tipster? A glance again at the screenshots brought my attention to this:

Hmmm, a little suspicious. Who can edit events and messages guests? Only the admins... And the only admin of this event? Senator Andrew Miller.

So, I'm not exactly sure what Senator Miller is trying to get at, but feel free to contact him at thetruthaboutnisgelections@yahoo.com. You may recognize Miller's name as the instigator of the "vote no" campaign for the Constitutional amendment. Feel free to share your thoughts with him on that issue here.

All Quiet on the Elections Front

Well, we are about to reach the end of week two of campaigning and things are certainly starting to calm down. If this were national or state politics, at this point I would be breaking down polling data about who leads and by what percent. But here in the land of student government campaigns, we don't have the luxury of polling data. Candidates are left to guess how well their campaigns are going and what they need to do to improve. It is very difficult to determine any of this because you are usually surrounded by your own supporters and friends who will always tell you that, "you are doing great and there is no way you could lose!" Luckily for the candidates, they have their friends here at nisgelections.com to help them out a bit.

Rhonda and Adam

You are making great strides in meeting with groups. Make sure in the upcoming week to increase your campus presence. Also, utilize your website more. The V-Logs were a good idea and people like that kind of stuff, so make sure to expand on that!. You will win the campaign on the grassroots level, keep talking to people and don't do a lot of sleeping.

Reed-Simonson

The additions to your platform have really been good for you. It certainly took your platform up a notch on the rating scale. Make sure in the upcoming week to increase your campus presence. Haven't seen any buttons, posters, shirts on campus. Do you have any? Make sure people know about you! Also your performance in the debate will make or break it for you! You will have to tread carefully in the debate as well. Do you attack the other candidates for weak spots on their platforms or do you simply highlight the strength of your own? Glad I don't have to make that call!

Spencer and Ian

Your promotion is going well. I heard from one person that "they seem to be everywhere." But, you are lagging behind the other campaigns in meeting with student groups and this could really hurt you. Those involved in student organizations are generally the voting population for NISG elections. Why? Generally because NISG controls their money. Perform well in the debate and it will help you. Perform poorly, and it won't be the end of the world, simply because people know you.

Best of Luck to all the candidates!

Baby!

This was too adorable to not post it...

It never hurts to have your buttons on something cute.

Former VP Endorses Spencer and Ian

Citing their Experience and Passion as his main reasons for supporting the ticket, Former NISG Vice President, Jake Rudy, announced that he was supporting Spencer and Ian in Tuesday's edition of the Northern Iowan. A link to his letter to the editor can be found here.

Spencer was excited to receive the endorsement of Rudy. "I'm very honored that Jake chose to officially endorse us. Jake was a great student body vice president and to have his approval of our ticket means a great deal to us. Jake Rudy has done the job before - he knows what's going to be expected of us and what's going to challenge us. This endorsement says to me that he knows that we are the best people for the job. We are very grateful that out of all of the qualified candidates, he chose to endorse us."

So what does this mean? Will it have any impact on the outcome of the race? In all actuality, probably not. It does serve as a confidence booster for the candidates and gives them a talking point when speaking with groups. As far as the influence that it will have; like myself, Jake is a 5th year senior at UNI and a lot of our friends have graduated. He still has an extensive list of Facebook friends who will see his "Spencer and Ian-ified" profile and I have already heard from a couple people that, "If that is who Jake is voting for, well I will vote for them too."

In the past endorsements have been both positive and negative. In the Bentley-Doudna vs. Cezar-Lobdell election, Bentley-Doudna touted an endorsement list of almost the entire senate. They even were endorsed by the NISG President and Speaker of the Senate. But Cezar-Lobdell released a newspaper ad (Seen Here) that stated "What's more important to us than Senator endorsements? Your endorsement." Pretty clever response if you ask me.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the campaign cycle pans out and who chooses to make endorsements. It is highly unlikely that President Anderson will announce anything because of the divided support for the candidates amongst the Executive Branch, and that is probably a good thing. During election times, it can be easy for those in NISG to forget that they are still supposed to be working, so it is probably for the best that they stay out of the fray. As endorsements roll in, we will have them for you here.

Senate Elections Update

Below is a list of the candidates for NISG Senate and as much as we can know about them via Facebook, the NISG Website, and the UNI Directory:

College of Business

-Michael Lunn (Off-Campus Senator, Junior, Economics Major) Facebook Page

-Chris Miller (Vice Chair of the Organization and Finance Committee and College of Business Senator, Sophomore, Economics Major) Facebook Page

This contested election is between two current Senators. Chris Miller currently represents the College of Business so that gives him a bit of an edge over Michael Lunn. With all the open seats, it is unfortunate that these two had to face off. Should be a close race.

College of Education

Blake Findley (Freshmen, Social Science Teaching)

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Jared Parker (Off-Campus Senator, Junior, History and Political Science Majors) Facebook Page

Off-Campus (17)

-Nate Konrardy (Director of Greek Relations-Fraternities, Sophomore, Communication Major)

-Stefanie McGraw (Junior, Spanish and Philosophy Majors)

Bender Hall

-Chase Aunspach (Rhonda and Adam Campaign Manager, Sophomore, Political Communication and Communication Majors)

Noehren Hall

-Corey Cooling (Sophomore, Physics and Philosophy Majors) Facebook Event

-Kelechi Ubochi (NISG External Relations Committee Member, Freshmen, Biology Major)

This contested seat should be a close race to watch. Neither Cooling or Ubochi are currently in NISG. Both are quite young and have a lot of potential. If I were them, I would also have my friends write me in for my college (Ubochi - College of Natural Sciences is OPEN). It would be great to see both of these newcomers on Senate next year.

University At-Large (5)

-Ryan Alfred (Chair of the Government and Legislative Affairs Committee, University At-Large Senator, Junior Social Science Teaching Major)

-Catherine Au Jong (Sophomore, Accounting and Management Information Systems Majors) Facebook Page, Facebook Event

-Andrew Miller (Attorney General, Vice Chair of the Government and Legislative Affairs Committee, Campbell Hall Senator, Sophomore, Political Science) Facebook Page

OPEN SEATS

University At-Large (2)*
- Kyle Woollums (Facebook Page) (Blog)
- Leanna-Tuesday Schreur (Facebook Event)

University Apartments

ROTH*
- Jackie Keeling

Shull Hall

Rider Hall

Lawther Hall

Hagemann Hall

Dancer Hall

Campbell Hall*
- Aleigh Glazier (Facebook Event)
- Johnathan Preston (Facebook Event)

Bartlett Hall*
- Kayla Rethwisch
- Cory Derringer (Facebook Event)

Off-Campus (15)*
- Laura Castro (Facebook Page)
- John Chesley (Facebook Page)
- Andrew Scherf (Facebook Event)
- Jesse Meyer (Facebook Page)
- Joe Enabnit (Facebook Event)
- EmilyAnn Brueck (Facebook Event)
- Caroline Davis (Facebook Event)
- Emily Droessler (Facebook Event)

Graduate College

College of Natural Science and College of Humanities and Fine Arts*

- Colin Sandberg (Facebook Page) 
- Christina Johnson (Facebook Event)

*There is a Write-In-Candidate vying for this seat

If you are interested in Senate and are eligible to serve in one of the currently uncontested seats, I encourage you to run a write-in-campaign. Just message some friends on Facebook, ask your hallmates and classmates to write you in. Unfortunately there was very little promotion by NISG of the deadlines for packets or that there was even going to be an election, so only 12 individuals are currently running for the 38 available Senate seats. Please email me (Trevor@NISGElections.com) or comment on this post if you are going to run a Write-In-Campaign so we can make sure to get you listed.

Reed-Simonson Platform Update on Diversity

Candidates Dakotah Reed and Zach Simonson updated their platform with a section specific to diversity on campus. It is titled "Diversity is G.R.E.A.T." But is their platform section great? Let's take a look at it:

Platform: (Found at the Reed-Simonson website)

Greeting

• Extending orientation and “Welcome Week” to include programs that focus on multicultural issues;
• Including information about forming student organizations into orientation programs because new student organizations promote new conversations on diversity issues;
• Making a “Welcome Week” and orientation structure that encourages international students to mingle with the rest of the new student class rather than starting their student experience in isolation.

Recruiting

• Making use of UNI’s most valuable resource, teaching majors. Because teachers act as role models and influence students college decisions, we can use future teachers to supplement diversity programs in a few ways:
• First, we should use university policies to encourage teaching majors to consider student teaching in diverse schools;
• Additionally, we should use the Alumni Association and Career Services and our success with the Teach Grant to help teaching graduates to find opportunities to teach in diverse schools;
• Continuing marketing and recruiting strategies that successfully complement UNI’s well-formed transfer system by encouraging students to consider UNI as part of a broad four-year plan after two years at a community college;
• Promoting a dialogue between Admissions that finds new strategies and renews a focus on recruiting and admitting students from diverse backgrounds.

Educating

• Never forgetting that disability is diversity and focusing on providing a campus that is open and accessible to disabled students, both physically and culturally;
• Refocusing Diversity Week to emphasize unity and cross-cultural dialogue;
• Encouraging student organizations to work together to host events regarding diversity and other issues.

Advocating

• Not just pursuing structural and policy changes that promote diversity goals, but leading by example and fostering conversations about improving the openness of our campus culture;
• Asking for input during the transition from diversity-related student organizations about appointments for the Director of Diversity and Student Life and other positions.

Trust-Building

• Keep a zero-tolerance policy for exclusive student organizations, political, Greek or otherwise;
• Rewarding student organizations that promote an open campus;
• Fostering access to financial aid and other resources that are available to diverse students and pursue new programs with Admissions, the Iowa Student Aid Commission and other organizations.

Commentary:

Overall, this is a great addition to the platform. The sheer number of ideas proves they put a lot of thought into this section. I'm not exactly partial to the acronym idea, but the majority of the ideas are great. I do question what the "zero-tolerance policy" for exclusive organizations would mean. Earlier they were advocates for Greek Life and here I'm left trying to interpret what zero tolerance means. They have some good thoughts on international students and orientation.

Conclusion:

A lot of times with the topic of diversity it isn't about the specific ideas that candidates propose. It's about whether or not the candidates will be supportive of all students when they are elected. In office you have situations thrown at you that you would never expect. You have to be open-minded and representative of your entire student body. As President and Vice President of NISG you represent all students: black or white, religious or atheist, gay or straight. Encouraging open and discussions about our differences and maintaining a safe environment for all students should always be the top priority for an NISG administration. With this platform section, it is clear for Reed-Simonson, it would be.

Walrath-Goldsmith Platform Analysis

Quick Hits
Favorite Plank: "Create a Service Transcript that shows volunteer hours on your transcript"
Least Favorite Plank: "We want to make the funding process for student groups easier and make funding information more readily available" due to vagueness and difficulty.
Unique Plank: "Panther Points"
Theme: Standard Platform with strong and weak points

Click the link to see the platform and follow along: Spencer and Ian Platform

NISG Outreach and Accountability

This section is pretty standard as far as the basics go. The only new pledge on here that I really like is that you can follow the progress that they are making on completing their initiatives they promised on the NISG website. They were also pretty bold in taking a stance on the size of the senate, not only with their votes as current senators, but also now as candidates. I am sure there are some senators that will be offended by comments about the senate, such as calling them "stagnant and self absorbed." I am very happy that they want to expand the use of the NISG website.

Student Groups

As I read this section, specifically about funding, I wanted to know, how? The NISG funding guidelines are pretty specific and yes, can be very difficult to understand. Even after a platform update, I am still left asking how do Spencer and Ian propose to make the funding process easier for students to access and understand? Also, helping student orgs communicate sounds like a good idea, but it can be more difficult to actually achieve then one might realize. Often times the database will not have the right information available about who is in charge etc. It will take a lot of manpower and staff time from someone in the executive branch, but certainly not the President. I was a big fan of having the Director of Administration keep records of success for student organization events.After a platform revision, they added a shout out to the Greek Community, but offered no specific ideas. Overall, this again was a pretty generic section that I would expect from any candidate, but they were able to spice it up a bit. Still left me with some questions.

Parking

Who doesn't love to complain about the parking on campus!? I am happy to see that Spencer and Ian will advocate for reallocating of spots and they have done their research on the costs. The section here that will probably cause a lot of debate is the concept of encouraging freshmen to leave their cars at home. While they do point out that it would NOT be mandatory, it still raises some questions. Do give Spencer and Ian some credit though. They developed a solution, that might not be popular, but at least it is an idea.

Panther Pride

Next is the idea of Panther Points. The concept is great. It is really a fantastic idea and I love it. The problem is just how realistic can it be? Card swipers at every lecture? Who is collecting this data at each and every event? There are some difficult questions to be answered about how the implementation will work, but overall, it sounds like a great idea. It concerns me a bit that Spencer and Ian are drawing attention to "the interlude dance" in the campaign. If they go on to win, I hope it isn't because they were known as the "interlude guys." Leading the student section is one thing, leading the student body is another.

Diversity

This is a pretty solid section of the Walrath-Goldsmith platform. They have outlined specifics on who, how, what, why, and where and it is clear they know their stuff. All I can say is, good work.

Green

Like the previous section, I am impressed with the details and information about their "Green Ideas" listed here. I am partial to the Paperless Homework idea as I had something similar on my platform. Working with faculty senate will be crucial to accomplish this goal, but there are certainly a lot of professors who would be willing to do this.

Lobbying

Pretty standard ideas here. They point out the role Spencer played in creating the DOGR which is certainly an advantage. I also like the idea of having forums on the UNI campus.

Finances

It is refreshing to see them address the fact that the budget situation doesn't look good and that they understand that. They aren't proposing new ideas that would cost a lot, which was smart thinking by them. They again have done their homework and Spencer's NISG experience has without a doubt come in handy while crafting this section.

Curriculum

Fantastic and new ideas in this section. The idea of a co-curricular transcript is outstanding. While the upcoming budget cuts will probably lead to some majors being eliminated, the fact is that the NISG President and Vice President need to be the voice of students and sometimes, that means disagreeing with the UNI Administration. Spencer and Ian clearly understand that with their stance on majors being cut.

Conclusion:

This platform contains the issues that are relevant to students and also introduces some new ideas. They laid out specific plans and for the most part had specific information as to how things would be implemented. The biggest question mark has to be the Panther Points system. This could be a deal breaker. I'm looking forward in the weeks ahead to seeing a plan as to how this could logistically work. Overall this is a strong platform and frankly it is what I expected these candidates to produce. They have experience and an understanding of the way the university works, which certainly helped them when putting this together.

The First Response to Liz

UPDATE BELOW




First, kudos to Greenway-Beaves for being the first ticket to get a response up. One quick correction, however. The Towers Center does have a 24 hour study option. It's the room next to the computer lab and the outside doors to the Towers Center are always open.

Regardless, great response.

UPDATE: Reader Morgan Johnson reminds me that Walrath-Goldsmith were actually the first to respond. My apologies. You'll have to excuse my lack of attentiveness through the end of Darwin Week.



A correction for them: the bill, as amended, gives a seat for every 750 students enrolled in a college -- not 1000. Great response, as well.

Reality has a Well Known Bias

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to address the elephant in the room. NISGElections.com is a well-known Walrath-Goldsmith spin machine, right? We are set against the other candidates and doing what we can to make sure this is a coronation for Spencer and Ian, right? We're waiting to announce our endorsement of them, right?

Let me take this time to dispel those rumors. Adam and I have no plans to make an endorsement. Frankly, I have no clue who I'm going to vote for. There's not even a ticket I wouldn't vote for. I'm waiting to see how the campaign goes and, more specifically, the debate.

The issue comes down to the difference between bias and acknowledging smart tactics. Why has this blog been accused of being pro-Walrath-Goldsmith? Because they've run a really smart campaign. Their website is one of the best NISG elections have ever seen. Their platform is relatively detailed and innovative. The posters, buttons, and notoriety all make them the obvious front-runners. Walrath in particular has the most experience of any candidate, in this humble writer's opinion. He was called an NISG Senate veteran because he is an NISG Senate veteran. There are a mere handful of people on campus who can compare to the number of years he has spent with NISG.

Does this make them perfect? Absolutely not. Reed-Simonson and Greenway-Beaves have already visited far more student groups and Walrath-Goldsmith is struggling to find the right mix of professionalism and approachableness. There is plenty of room for the dynamics of this race to shift.

That said, the other candidates aren’t helping themselves out. This blog has been accused, in particular, of being anti-Greenway-Beaves. We are not. What we are is anti-mudslinging on non-substantive issues; anti-platforms that lack depth and a real plan. We feel this way because we’ve been there. My platform had some of the same issues, and no one called me out on it. This year, Adam and I plan to change that.

There is hope on the horizon. As I tweeted today, Greenway-Beaves has started a new, innovative vlog series. When I ran for office, we wanted to blog about each group we visited and give an overview of their concerns to us. It turned out to be far too ambitious of a program for us to undertake. I applaud Greenway-Beaves for taking it on. It also provides a very personal touch for them.

Reed-Simonson is not to be discounted either. While their website still isn’t on par with Walrath-Goldsmith, it has improved since launch day. Reed was great at the Dems meeting on Thursday and I really believe this ticket can make up a lot of ground if they get a chance to meet with student groups – particularly if Walrath-Goldsmith isn’t hitting the campaign trail with an equal amount of vigor.

So, what’s the future of NISGElections.com? We can promise you unbiased, insider information and analysis on the NISG Presidential campaigns. That is not to be confused with equally supportive coverage. Sometimes, a ticket will have a better plan, a better campaign, or a better website. We will not shy away from announcing it when this is the case. We are running this blog to force candidates to step up their games. I have no doubts they will.