R.O.C. Endorsement
by Jennifer Hilburger
It was a unanimous agreement among the editorial board at Generation to put support behind the SUNY SA delegate candidates in the Reform Our Campus, or R.O.C., party. Francisco Baiocchi, Matthew Pelkey and Elizabeth Salzman were brimming with ideas, and their delivery made quite an impression.
R.O.C. stands for protecting government aid such as TAP, EOP, and PELL. In addition to these programs, the party would look to spread awareness and expand the availability of other New York State aid. An example they used was the program HEAP, which is a heating assistance program that students may not be aware of but may definitely qualify for. R.O.C. would help advocate ways for students to utilize all the grants and aid programs that the state has to offer.
Pledging integrity and accountability as qualities that set them apart, Pelkey and Baiocchi threw in occasional jokes and walked the thin line between business and pleasure. If elected SUNY SA delegates, though, the two promised to take the position seriously to effectively represent the University at Buffalo in Albany. Another one of their ideas further ensured that they keep this promise.
Baiocchi used the phrase “checks and balances” to refer to a proposal that he and Pelkey would enact as delegates. The proposal would institute a system in which all members of the SA executive board, including themselves, would be reviewed monthly to make sure that they are on task and doing what the student body elected them to do.
By also proposing to implement a process that would take an elected person out of the position if they weren’t carrying out their job description, R.O.C. believes that they could potentially avoid problems when it came to people in elected positions not working for the student body.
These candidates established their credibility by including their position in the system of “checks and balances.” It showed that they were looking to better the SA governmental system and were confident that if elected, they would be successfully doing what the student body elected them to do, or else they too risked the chance of being ousted.
Salzman also outlined a plan to stay connected to students through forums with local politicians, mass mailings, and office hours for the delegates.
A quality that we saw as positive in the candidates was that they had experience in SA and other hierarchies. Baiocchi has served on the executive board of the Resident Hall Association on campus and left his mark on other SA clubs. Pelkey has also been involved in SA on various levels but is most prevalent in the College Republicans. Salzman is a member of the Faculty Student Association board.
Their past experiences have allowed them to witness first hand the way other systems have been run effectively while still having a great deal of knowledge of how the SA system is run. They could therefore bring fresh ideas and ways to serve the student body to the table if they were elected.
Of course, as voting citizens, we all know that what is said by candidates on any level of government before the election is quite different than the action that they take afterwards.
One word set R.O.C. apart from the other candidates running for SUNY SA delegates: Charisma. Pelkey, Baiocchi and Salzman had an appealing way with words and people alike. What two better skills could you want in people that will ultimately be representing UB in SUNY SA?
Elevation ‘05 SUNY SA Delegates: Brittany Shapiro, Laura London, Mercedes Tavares, Peter Rizzo
By Timothy Lowden
While the Elevation ’05 SUNY SA team of Brittany Shapiro, Laura London, Mercedes Tavares, and Peter Rizzo had good qualifications and a seemingly good grasp on how the Student Association’s internal structure works, Generation did not find their arguments very impressive. The interview with the group repeatedly regressed back to the ongoing notion that the SUNY SA officials basically get paid to do nothing but go on free trips to Albany and “how extremely unfortunate” it is that such a stereotype should exist. The classic “need to represent the students” was stressed, as well as accountability issues, but no significant fresh ideas were presented. On the brighter side, they brought up a good point in saying that since Buffalo is the largest SUNY school, the SA conference should be brought here. Other ideas that were addressed included forming a coalition of Western New York public schools, including Niagara County Community College, Erie Community College, and Buffalo State. With all due respect to those schools, Generation felt that these candidates needed to stay more focused on what they could do to improve the University at Buffalo.
