This week, your Student Association (SA) is holding their annual elections to determine next years’ officers and New York State Student Assembly (NYSSA) delegates. If you picked up this copy of the magazine in the student union, or if you have tried to have lunch at Putnam’s this week, chances are at least 3 candidates approached you trying to obtain your vote. While they may be annoying, you should still voice your opinion by exercising your right to vote.

In an attempt to help you make an informed decision, a six person panel of Generation editors interviewed all nine candidates running for SA Executive Board positions (President, Vice-President, and Treasurer) for at least twenty minutes each. We did not interview any of the students running for NYSSA, because there are only four candidates running for three positions, so it seemed pointless.

During the interviews, we obviously inquired about each candidate’s experience. We attempted to gauge each candidates knowledge of the inner-workings of SA, including their knowledge of budgetary allotments and procedures, familiarity with SA’s professional staff members, familiarity with clubs, any and all knowledge pertaining to SA’s relationship with Sub-board I. We also asked a number of simple SA knowledge questions, including, "What’s SA’s phone number?" which a number of candidates didn’t know.

Our board also asked the candidates to identify a number of UB officials and to give their thoughts regarding UB President William Greiner and his administration. Mainly, we looked for specific ideas that would improve the Student Association and student life in general. In conjunction with that, we looked for the ability, know how, and specific planning needed to accomplish those ideas.

The following is a run-down of who we endorsed and why, as well as the reasons why we didn’t endorse other candidates. Keep in mind that these are just our opinions. Before you vote, approach each of the candidates and ask them about the issues which mean the most to you.

The Student Association (SA) President is the Chief Executive Officer of SA.The SA Constitution and By-Laws state that the SA President will be given the power to "exercise final authority in the supervision of the office and office staff of the Student Association Government." The president also has the power to veto legislation passed by the Student Assembly, place items before the Assembly to be voted on, call a meeting of the Assembly when he/she deems necessary, and is "ultimately responsible for coordinating the activities of the executive branch." The job of the SA president is essential, not only to SA, but to the university itself. That said, it is evident that every student must take very seriously their choice for SA president, and we at Generation took our decision very seriously as well.

CHRIS OLIVER: Generation endorses Chris Oliver of the Results Party for the position of SA President. There are several reasons why we are standing behind Oliver for this position, but the point that we were influenced by the most is the simple fact that he is not making empty promises--Oliver's track record stands on it's own--he has already gotten results and, if elected, he will continue to finish the projects he has already begun.

As a junior Accouting major at UB, Oliver has held many important positions at the University. Those positions include, SA Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Generation Business Manager, SA Board of Directors, Reach Business Manager, SA Lectures and Credentials Chair Person, Sub-Board I Board of Directors, SA Senator, and several others. As SA Treasrer, Oliver increased the budget given to academics by 35%, allotted $30,000 to the Senate, and he established a travel and competition money line to pay for athletic clubs' travel and competition expenses.

Not only were we impressed by Oliver's former accomplishments, we were also impressed by his plans for the future. Along with his party, Oliver intends to make "SA a respected institution students look to for leadership and protection." The Results party hopes to bring SA out of the student union and provide assistance to students who may or may not be invovled in SA clubs. Among other things, Oliver's goals are to bring an FM radio station to campus, establish a healthcare center on North Campus, establish an online book exchange, and continue to increase Student Stipends (which, by the way, he has already done).

When asked to give a closing statement, Oliver's words were ones that we could stand behind: "(It takes) experience and knowledge to get SA to run effectively on a daily basis. (Everything we have stated in our) campaign will happen. (The candidates in the Results Party are) competent people with experience who have already gotten results, and will continue to get things done." Oliver is hands down the best candidate for the job--he knows what he wants to do, he knows how to do it, and he genuinely cares about every student who attends this university.

As far as the other two candidates--Robinson Iglesias and Dan Wallace--are concerned, our distrust in their abilities basically comes down to general knowledge. Neither of them could sucessfully name the positions of important members of the univeristy administration and have no general knowledge of the day to day workings of SA.

ROBINSON IGLESIAS: Robinson Iglesias, a Freshman at UB, running with the Real Deal Party was, although not as impressive as Oliver, a great deal more impressive than Wallace. He is a member of the UB Senate and the UB Choir. As far as what he wants to accomplish, however, it seems unlikely that he will be able to follow through with his promises. He will spend most of his time learning the inner workings of SA, and the inner workings of the university itself. Iglesias also hopes to "scrutinize" SA's constitution with the help of the Student-Wide Judiciary. What is scary about this is, with all the time he will be spending re-writing the constitution and learning how to be a part of SA, when will he have time to actually make a difference? Being a Freshman, we feel that Iglesias has a few more years before he will be qualified for a job as important as SA President.

DAN WALLACE: Dan Wallace, a senior Aerospace Mechanical engineer, is the least qualified candidate for the job. Wallace's former involvements include the Outdoor Adventure Club, the Ski Club, and the SA Senate. Wallace's party, the UB Progress party, has a 13 page long platform with ideas that we at Generation feel are unlikely to be accomplished. Wallace seemed to stress that, above all else, if elected, he would like to spend the next year as president raising funds for SA. This is questionable on two levels. First, in order to keep his promise to the students that SA would not raise the Mandatory Activities Fee for four years, SA Treasurer Chris Oliver spent last year organizing SA's budget so that it could function without the need for more money for the next for years. Although extra funds could not hurt, they are not necessary and Wallace's time would be better spent on other tasks. Second, Wallace stated that he would like to raise funds with the help of corporate sponsors. This was a task that last year's SA executive branch attempted to accomplish, however never seemed to finish. The student in charge of SA's corporate sponsorship program? Dan Wallace. Wallace went on to stress several other items that he felt he would like to accomplish, however, we feel that he is not exeprienced, nor qualified , enough for the job.

The choice for SA President seems abundantly clear. Experience, knowledge, and a track record that proves Oliver's accomplishments should be enough to convince even the most undecided of voters. Regardless what your choice ultimately is, the most important aspect of SA elections is that every member of the student body does their part. Don't make your decision lightly, and don't forget to vote.

The Vice President's (VP) primary responsibility is to the 160+ organizations that SA recognizes. The VP ultimately gives full recognition to a group and as a result, can take that priviledge away. The VP heads the Assembly, the Presidential Cabinet and assumes responsibilities that the President cannot otherwise undertake. In addition, he or she may take on special project to promote student awareness of SA (i.e. Reach, The Student-to-Student Guide).

SA Constitution, Article V, Section 2b

Out of the four candidates running for Vice President, I am fairly certain that only one of them actually has both an idea what the duty of the SA Vice President actually is as well as the knowledge to carry that duty out properly. Presented here, in a very deliberate order from most competent to least, are your SA Vice Presidential candidates for the 2001-2002 academic year.

Josh Korman. Generation unanimously voted to endorse Josh Korman for SA Vice President. Korman, along with Presidential candidate Chris Oliver, has already spent a year in SA getting things done. As the SA Communication Director, Korman has served as the Editor-In-Chief of Reach and founder and Editor-In-Chief of Visions, SA’s monthly magazine. He also sits on the Sub-Board I Board of Directors, the Public Safety Board, and the Student Union Board.

Running with the Results party, Korman highlighted the four main goals of his prospective administration—to move Medical Services to the north campus, maintain SA’s autonomy from administration, combine more activities and services, and to take SA outside of the Student Union. "You’ve got a 103 degree fever and you’ve got to drag your ass all the way to south campus. That’s ridiculous," said Korman of his goal to bring Medical Services to the north campus. As for bringing the SA out of the Student Union, Korman wants to reach out to more students than the 5,000 already involved by setting up an SA table one day of every week in a different location on campus. Korman was very excited about attempting to get former President Clinton as a speaker for the Distinguished Speakers Series, as well as attempting to gain more access to Alumni Arena in order to be able to better schedule for events like the Distinguished Speakers Series and the Fests.

Korman would like to build on Oliver’s efforts of this year to get more funding to clubs by awarding money to them based on their current activities and not on their history. He highlighed a priority of increasing funding for conferences and travel, which are "an important part of getting UB’s name out there." Korman and his party also pledged to uphold the promise that the SA will not increase the Mandatory Student Activity Fee, a promise which was already tested this spring when NYPIRG’s request to hold a referendum to increase the fee was killed.

While increased fees will allow SA to land bigger acts, candidates were asked to explain what other ideas they had for improving Fallfest and Springfest. Korman suggests an interactive Fest which would include contests and competitions between acts, such as a student DJ showdown, and a published schedule of the day’s events so that students waiting for a specific event will not have to wait around or be let down. He’d also like to improve on the diversity of acts offered, which will be facilitated by a greater availability of Alumni Arena.

In terms of knowledge of the actual running and procedures of SA, the only candidate who was as knowledgable as Korman about this subject was his running mate, Oliver. Korman described the Results party as "a party of insiders" who will have results in two weeks, not two months. "A lot of people come into office and say that they had to spend most of their terms learning their job, and that’s true," said Korman. "You need the knowledge and the experience. Chris and I have been doing these jobs for the past year."

Korman was able to answer any and all questions about his platform, SA, and his position clearly, intelligently, and correctly. He was also able to specifically detail how they planned to accomplish their goals. "These are not things that could be done, these are things that will be done," explained Korman.

Richard Deren. Richard Deren of The Real Deal party has limited experience with SA having been the Political Science Student Association’s Vice President, making him the SA representative for the club. He emphasized getting more students involved with SA and improving its channels of communication. However, he was vague as to what his plans to accomplish this actually were. He was clueless about what channels exist outside of Spectrum, completely ignoring Visions and Reach as outlets published exclusively by SA. He also had no idea that Generation was funded by Sub-Board . In order to improve the Fests, Deren would like to see a whole weekend of activities including more bands. He didn’t know much about club budgets but would like to see more money go to clubs that will do outside fundraising and penalize those that don’t. He’d like to create a "network of communication" between the Staff Senate and the Student Senate. While he claims his party will achieve "more progress and better results" than the other parties, "using diversity to bring students together," he failed to touch on many points included on his platform, including the Online Universal Exhange system, proposed reforms of the SA constitution, and the development of the student advocacy committee. All things considered, while Deren did have some knowledge of SA, he had very little knowledge or experience that would qualify him for the position of Vice President.

Brian Reardon. Brian Reardon, who is running independently of a party was active this year with the political science club and did some community service with Kids Voting. Reardon also cites a need for greater student input, and would like to implement a student polling service on the UB Wings website. He would also like to see more money going to Generation and SA video to improve communication, while also improving funding for Group Legal Services. Reardon proposed to improve the fests by turning them into all-day events and providing more interaction, however specifics on this were lacking. One good idea this candidate presented was the need to more actively recruit freshmen to SA activities. None of Reardon’s ideas were necessarily bad, just vague, which is probably due to his lack of hands-on SA experience.

Kevin Christenson. Kevin Christenson is running with the UB Progress Party. This party has the potential to be very frightening to those of us who enjoy the actual progress the SA has seen. While Christenson did seem like the kind of nice kid you’d want as a friend, he literally had no idea what the job of the Vice President of SA is, stating that his primary duty would be to "back up the SA President." He mentioned nothing about clubs in that description, nor did he have any idea as to how many clubs are sponsored by SA, guessing that it was 120. Christenson was formerly involved with men’s crew, the boxing club, Campus Crusade and the UB Gospel choir until he was required to take last year off of school.

The Progress Party is preying on the pet peeves of the UB Community to get votes, i.e. parking, high textbook costs, and mediocre Fall and Spring fests, while providing extremely vague and unworkable solutions to them. About parking, Christenson suggested hiring a civil engineer to monitor parking practices, repainting the lines in the parking lots and implementing electronic signs to tell when a lot is full. How a civil engineer will be able to solve the problems was not clear, nor did he elaborate on any long-term benefit the other two metholds would provide. One good idea he had, however, was to reroute the campus Blue Birds to include a stop in the Heights, which would encourage more kids who drive from the Heights to catch the boss instead. In order to improve the Fests, he would like them to be advertised to the community on a larger scale to bring in more people, and also to have some side activities during the fests, although he was unclear on what these would include. He neglected many points on his party’s platform, including: a textbook initiative, which would basically propose to change the contract that is currently held by the bookstore; implementing a community service rewards initiative; a social responsibility initiative including a mandate that SA use only recycled paper and set up a program to help Buffalo’s less fortunate by sponsoring a monthly soup kitchen (I hope not on the Amherst campus—I could almost see that being a success); and an end to the exploitation of Undergraduate Student Assistants. How exactly these programs will be effected is not known due to the fact that they neither outlined any plans in their platform nor discussed them during their interviews.

Basically, their answer to all of UB’s problems is to find more money from outside sources, then proceed to throw it around. Unfortunately, if they cannot find more money, as has already been attempted by the current administration, many of their plans will fall through completely. The other plans are dependent on too many third parties to guarantee any amount of results.

The job of SA Treasurer is extremely important. Each year, SA is presented with your Mandatory Student Activities Fee money, a sum which next year will reach about $2.2 million. The treasurer's duty is to work this money into a budget which accomidates all of SA's obligations, including Sub-board I, 160+ clubs, staff salaries and a plethora of activities such as Fallfest and Springfest. It is imperative that the treasurer be competent and able to manage the funds correctly. This years treasurer, Chris Oliver, was able to allocate $30,000 to the student senate, while increasing club funding by 35%. Whoever takes over for Oliver will have some big shoes to step in to.

This years candidates for SA Treasurer are as different as night and day. After interviewing both Junior, Naazli Ahmed, running with the Results party, and Sophmore, Amanda McCormick, running for the UB Progress party, our panel of editors unanimously endorsed Naazli Ahmed.

Naazli Ahmed. Naazli Ahmed entered our office with an air of confidence and proffesionalism. Having been trained by Oliver, she would need little additional training for the posistion. Her resume includes working as treasurer and president of the Indian SA (academic and internal affairs), financially planning a variety of shows, running UB's India night and working with the business fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi. Along with all of these qualifications, Ahmed already has an insiders knowledge as to how the SA office runs.

From her experience with SA, and her aforementioned training from running mate, and present SA treasurer Chris Oliver, Ahmed is already familiar with the SA budget. Not only was Ahmed able to accurately describe SA's budget and the specifics of each allotment, she was also able to describe the processes for determining allotments.

Generation asked Ahmed some knowledge questions, in order to attempt to stump her, however, she took no falls. Ahmed knew the budget, SA's relationship to Sub-Board I, and the phone number to SA. She also identified our entire list of University officials correctly, and she was able to clearly and convincingly explain why she chose her running mates. Along with all of this, throughout her entire interview she presented herself in a very distinguished manner.

Amanda McCormick. McCormick, Ahmed's oppenent, was far less convicing. McCormick could not correctly answer a single question that Generation pose, she had no idea how many clubs SA has, the phone number to SA, Sub-Board I's relationship to SA, the groups funded by Sub-Board I, or even the amount of SA's annual budget. When presented with a list of fifteen University officials, she identified two. Her only previous experience handling money was managing a $200 budget as ruch chair of Alpha Pi Omega, and her job waitressing at TGI Fridays. McCormick was not even sure of where all of the funds went, she could only guess that most of the money went towards clubs. Although she had a good idea of trying to raise money from the community for funding, she could not produce a solid plan of action as to how money would be raised from the outside community.