The two tickets for Ohio University’s Student Senate are battling over common ground — the graffiti wall — after one day of campaigning.
The wall was painted over at least four times yesterday, said Chris Wimsatt, treasurer candidate for Student Trustee Kyle Triplett’s RSVP ticket.
RSVP is squaring off against FACE, a ticket headed by former Student Senate member Matthew Wallace. Elections are May 18 and 19.
Wallace, who resigned from his position as off-campus life senator in January, said his party’s platform emphasizes diversity, accountability and fiscal responsibility.
No FACE candidates are current members of senate, but about half are senate interns, Wallace said, adding he is not worried about the party’s lack of direct senate experience.
“We don’t see that as a weakness,” he said. “If anything, we’re bringing fresh air into the organization.”
RSVP’s platform also pushes for improvement in four areas: affordability, academic experience, safety and out-of-classroom experience, Triplett said.
The party includes a few current senators, including Wimsatt, who serves as state and federal affairs commissioner, and vice presidential candidate Roger Jones, currently senate’s intern director.
Both FACE’s and RSVP’s platforms include changes to Student Senate itself. Wallace said he plans to eliminate political parties to make senate elections fairer for independent candidates. FACE will also seek to hold senate more accountable, Wallace said.
“You don’t really see the face of your representatives after the election,” he said.
If elected, Wallace said he would work to make senate more fiscally responsible by eliminating secretary pay and extraneous budget allotments. Wallace also plans to decline the full-tuition scholarship traditionally awarded to Student Senate’s president.
In direct response to last year’s winning party, FACE’s platform states that it would save more than $12,000, compared to the $300 saved when the senate office’s water cooler was removed.
RSVP also hopes to make senate more accountable.
“We want to improve ourselves as a functioning body,” Triplett said, adding that senate debates should feature less opinion and more representation.
If Triplett is elected, one of senate’s first projects will be booking a major concert for Spring Quarter 2012, he said.
“We really want to make sure it’s not another 7 1/2 years before the next big concert,” Triplett said.
Triplett and Wallace disagree on student trustee voting rights and potentially opening Budget Planning Council meetings.
Open BPC meetings have been on the wish list of senate presidential hopefuls for the past two years, but both President Jesse Neader and his predecessor Robert Leary reversed their stances about opening the meetings once in office.
Wallace said he will break the streak because FACE has prepared resolutions to be passed within the first few weeks next year to deal with all of its main campaign points.
“Jesse Neader completely did a 180 about BPC,” Wallace said. “The people who get into Student Senate make promises they don’t fulfill, and there’s a lack of accountability.”
RSVP, however, will not work to open the budget meetings.
“It’s not an issue on our ballot,” Triplett said. “If there was student interest in the issue we would also pursue it … we’re not going to waste our time.”
Although FACE wants OU’s two student trustees to have voting rights at Board of Trustees meetings, Triplett, a current trustee, does not.
“As a student trustee, you represent the Board and the student perspective, and if you had a vote, it would be very easy to mix the two,” he said, adding that voting rights are not necessary because Board members listen to students.
jf250409@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCampus
