My name is Matthew Wallace. I'm a 30-something, drunken chauvinist pig who wants to be your Student Senate president. And I have a decent sense of humor. How could I not, given the ridiculousness of the false accusations that have been leveled at me during the past few weeks?
For starters, a woman accused me of calling her a concubine. An Athens resident accused me of sipping bathtub-brewed moonshine from a Pepsi cup at a Student Senate general body meeting. Another man claimed I'm pushing 30. Finally, A young woman says I'm a chauvenistic pig because, at Palmerfest, I posed next to a man holding a sign saying "Free Mustache Rides.” Okay, that last one actually happened. And you know what? I chuckle every time I think about its absurdity. The woman who wrote it is good friends with a few members of my opposition, RSVP. In fact, all of the detractors making personal slights against me have ties with RSVP.
Fortunately, you Ohio University students are smarter than that. You're not going to fall for ad hominem attacks that ignore what my political party, FACE, wants to bring to the table. Instead, you're going to analyze the two platforms — FACE and RSVP — and make an informed decision based on what you think is best for the university.
In this budget crisis, and FACE can save OU $12,000 by making internal cuts to senate. The lump sum comes from my turning down the about $9,000 presidential scholarship. People are confused by where the money would go or how it would help students. Let me explain: If I get elected and turn down the scholarship and continue paying my own money toward tuition, that's $9,000 that OU would not otherwise have gotten.
In other words, that $9,000 can be put toward offsetting the university's deficit. So FACE “saves” OU that money in the same way that, last year, SOUND saved OU $300 by not continuing to put that money into a water cooler for the senate office. Money saved is money earned. (By way of contrast to this savings, RSVP wants to spend $100,000.)
Furhermore, FACE has a plan to open budget meetings and pursue student trustee voting rights. (By way of contrast to these goals, RSVP considers open budget meetings and voting rights to be something students are not concerned with.)
Finally, we pride ourselves on our diversity. Ninety percent of FACE members are students who hold executive positions in other student organizations. Several of our candidates are international students. More than a third are minorities. Simply look at the FACEs on www.VoteFACE.com to get a picture of what we offer.
So please consider voting FACE on the OU website this Wednesday and Thursday. Help us attempt to make this university more transparent and accessible to students. Help us end the political training ground that is Student Senate, and reorient it toward being an organization that uses its advocacy purposes to the fullest extent possible. The results of the last four Student Senate insider tickets winning the election has been a Student Senate that is widely considered to be ineffective by, and detached from, the student body as a whole.
Albert Einstein said 'insanity' is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Please consider voting FACE for the high probability that different results will be achieved if we're able to lead. (And don't worry: Contrary to what you might hear, I'm just a 20-something responsible drinker with a quite respectful opinion of women.)
Matthew Wallace is the Student Senate presidential candidate for FACE.
