This week, Tuesday through Thursday, University at Buffalo undergraduates will have a chance to vote for next year’s SA Executive Board, as well as the four delegates UB will send to the SUNY Student Assembly.
Last week, Generation sat down with all the candidates who have tossed their hats in the ring to assess their platforms, promises, and credentials. This year’s race is comprised of three parties: UB Redefine and Progress are both fielding a full ticket of candidates, and Greater Tomorrow is comprised solely of E-Board hopefuls. The names of the candidates Generation has chosen to endorse will appear here in bold.
Generation Endorses Progress Candidates for Executive Board
After speaking at length with all candidates, Generation has decided to endorse Progress’ Peter Grollitsch and Ashish Abraham for the linked SA president and vice president positions, and John Martin for the treasurer’s office. The decision was not an easy one; we found that the candidates running for these positions were almost all well-qualified people who brought a range of excellent ideas to the table. We feel that the Progress Executive Board ticket, however, offers the greatest range of experience and the most feasible plans for next year’s SA, as well as an enlightened understanding of the problems SA has faced in the past.
The Progress party’s platform has evolved since last year’s barely-beaten Stern/Whitmore team. Highlights include an expansion of the SA Book Exchange program, with the possibility of a physical location, and creating a more welcoming on-campus environment for commuter students. Progress candidates cited the recent loss of another commuter lounge as an indicator of the problem, and promised to work with President Simpson to offer commuters more space. The party also explained their plans for a $30,000 to $40,000 fund for SA clubs that would closely resemble the Sub Board I Programming Grant. The money would be set aside to deal out to clubs for events as it is needed, which Grollitsch asserted would better serve the clubs’ needs.
The plans for the grant program reflect Grollitsch’s knowledge of the SA finances, which he currently heads as SA treasurer. Working beneath him as assistant bookkeeper is John Martin, whose position should leave him ready to take the reins. Generation believes Grollitsch did a fine job as SA treasurer this year, and Martin seems poised to follow his lead.
Andrew DeShong, Redefine’s choice for treasurer, does show extensive experience at UB. Having been a part of numerous departments of student government, including Chief of Staff for SA this year, he is well connected and understands how things get done on campus. His time as Sub Board treasurer will not necessarily translate well to the SA office, however, as the duties are of a different nature. His party’s platform also contains a notable lack of initiatives to control SA finances while promising a bevy of service improvements. Although DeShong is approachable and has a broad range of knowledge about UB politics and policies, Generation finds that his experience will be of better use to students elsewhere.
Generation liked UB Redefine’s overall stance on the state of SA—that it is at a “standstill,” in presidential candidate Christopher Mendoza’s words. With that said, Generation also felt that the platform Redefine presented would not adequately address such a concern. Some of their proposals—like the inclusion of a South Campus festival before fest concerts and a flat-rate NFTA pass, to name a few of many—have been proposed in the past and failed to see the light of day. The party did not convince Generation that their attempts would meet a different fate. They impressed with their proposal to reevaluate the role of Visions, however, especially their suggestion to give the SA-run magazine editorial autonomy.
While Mendoza was able to speak at length on a variety of issues and demonstrated a working knowledge of SA and the president’s job, vice presidential hopeful Shuja Hussain did not inspire the same confidence. His comments to Generation generally revolved around unifying clubs and bringing the students closer to their SA, promises he failed to provide concrete methods of implementation for. At best, his party mates explained things for him. Hussain also made frequent mention of UB’s parking situation—often in response to a question on another topic—and suggested the parking ban on the spine for on-campus freshmen be extended to sophomores and juniors.
All candidates spoke on the need to make the E-Board of SA more accessible, and their suggestions on how to do so nearly mirrored one another. An open door policy and increased presence outside of the Student Union’s third floor topped the list. While all candidates made this pledge, Generation feels the ones we have selected would be the most likely to actually follow through on the promise.
The Greater Tomorrow party—while exhibiting good grasps of the offices they are running for and being eager to work—did not present a written platform at all, and their plans do not have the broad scope of the other parties. Though presidential hopeful Rob Mercurio has served this year as a SUNY SA Delegate, Scott Swamback and Zach Lauria, running for vice president and treasurer, respectively, did not exhibit the knowledge of the large-scale workings of SA that would be vital to their jobs. While all were approachable, personable, and seemed like capable individuals, Generation feels that it will take more than good intentions to fix the problems candidates unanimously agreed exist within SA.
Generation Endorses Two Progress Candidates for SUNY SA, Two Redefine Candidates
Generation has decided to endorse Progress’ Jack Niejadlik and Latrece Seneca, as well as Redefine’s Eliot Sherman and Melody Mercedes for SUNY SA Delegate seats. The duo from Progress focused on increasing support for the Education Opportunity Program (EOP) and work-study program, funding for which flows from Albany. Both Niejadlik—who writes for Generation in the Pulse section—and Seneca, were extremely knowledgeable in these areas, and possessed a good understanding of the job of a delegate. While the other Delegate candidates in Progress—Elias Farah and Rohan D’Souza—were well spoken and qualified, it seems their respective goals of strengthening commuter student involvement and increasing UB’s athletic prestige could be better accomplished from positions closer to home.
Sherman and Mercedes are the incumbents on the Redefine ticket, and the fact both held positions on SUNY SA’s E-Board played a major role in Generation’s decision to endorse them. While it may be an exaggeration that the SUNY campus-wide smoking ban would have passed had it not been for the UB delegates, as Mercedes asserts, they did accomplish more than their predecessors and have increased UB’s influence on the statewide scale. After spending time in Albany, they have also forged connections and promise to be ready to hit the ground running next year. With the amount of experience divided between Sherman and Mercedes, it seems almost curious that Mollie McCabe and Jovan Ramirez made their way onto the ticket. Though sporting can-do attitudes, Generation felt neither had the experience or the vision to accomplish their rather vague goals in Albany.
