For the Student Association presidential race, The Daily Orange Editorial Board endorses Kyle Coleman.

The four presidential candidates each presented their platforms to the editorial board on Sunday afternoon. An overwhelming majority of the board favored Coleman over the other three candidates with a 10-1 vote.

Ten members supported Coleman for these reasons:

• Coleman has enough SA experience to handle the job, but not too much to be blinded by the pitfalls of the organization.
• He has a plan to restructure the way members are held responsible. The plan would cut out some of the bureaucracy within the organization and would make the members more active.
• Coleman wants to eliminate wasteful spending within SA and repurpose it for students.
• To make students care more about SA, he plans to reorganize the organization. Students will likely care more if they see SA make progress.
• Coleman has direct experience on the Finance Board, which is an integral component of SA that presidents need to understand.
• Coleman plans on creating a more open forum style of SA so there are fewer closed doors and so more students can get involved.

Though electing Coleman could be a risk for the organization, the editorial board thinks SA needs a risk. If elected, he needs a strong plan to transition into the position because he lacks the experience other candidates have. He would also need to appoint cabinet members who have enough SA experience to help him in places that may be his weakness.

Lastly, as a quadruple major and someone involved in other organizations, Coleman has plenty of commitments. To fill the presidential role fully, he needs to cut down on some of them, which he said he plans on doing.

One board member supported Allie Curtis, the current SA vice president, for the position, citing her SA experience. Other members did not feel comfortable endorsing her.

Curtis would be a repeat of the Dylan Lustig administration, one which The Daily Orange Editorial Board does not feel has accomplished much. She focuses heavily on SA and its internal aspects, and she would not see beyond the organization.

Curtis also runs the risk of becoming a “one-woman show” and accomplishing the goals herself, rather than delegating tasks among SA members. Some of her campaign goals could be accomplished at a lower level than the presidency. The SA president should focus on the bigger picture.

A third candidate, PJ Alampi, is chair of the Student Life Committee. No members of the editorial board felt strongly enough to support Alampi, and one reason is he does not seem to have experience in the other facets of SA.

Alampi’s campaign picks at issues on campus that can be accomplished by a committee rather than the president. He wants SA to be more adversarial than governmental, but the organization serves as the student government on campus.

No members felt strongly enough to support the fourth candidate, assembly representative Iggy Nava. A majority of Nava’s experience comes from beyond Syracuse University and SA. He does not seem to know enough to fully accomplish the job.

Nava’s plans are not as tangible as the other candidates. Progress is often measured in tangible results, and his ideas would not translate. Nava’s plans are also not very SU-centric. The SA president needs to focus on problems that concern and affect a majority of students.

 

Published on November 12, 2012 at 3:00 am

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