On Feb. 18, voting will begin for the 2014 Winter Quarter ASUCD elections, which will determine six new senators as well as a new ASUCD President and Vice President. The Aggie Editorial Board interviewed and evaluated each of the 15 senate candidates and three executive tickets.
Normally, we would select six senate candidates to endorse. Unfortunately, we were underwhelmed with the majority of prospective senators, most of whom are running on unfeasible and unoriginal platforms.
We hereby endorse the following candidates:
Executive:
Armando Figueroa (President — SMART) & Maxwell Kappes (Vice President — Independent)
Figueroa and Kappes are on the only executive ticket that boasts two former senators. Kappes is the only vice presidential candidate with senate experience, a crucial component for a position that presides over senate.
Because Figueroa and Kappes are on different slates, we believe that they will bring more ideas and a more diverse opinion to ASUCD as a fusion ticket.
Their platforms goals are all well-researched, specific and feasible. Additionally, Figueroa and Kappes stressed the importance of promoting transparency within the UC Davis administration and of standing up to and questioning the administration. We appreciate and value their intent to promote transparency within ASUCD and to question the administration.
Senate:
No. 1 — Robyn Huey (SMART)
Huey possesses relevant ASUCD experience and represents a wide variety of UC Davis students. We believe that Huey will be effective in advocating for her causes, communities and platforms, as she appears knowledgeable of UC Davis operations and steadfast to her opinions.
No. 2 — Amelia Helland (NOW)
Helland’s charisma was evident during the interview — she came off as personable and relatable. We were impressed with her first platform, which involves collaborating with the Davis Honors Challenge program to create a study of student needs, habits and expectations of ASUCD and its units. We appreciate her dedication to Senator Amrit Sahota’s platform to raise awareness of sexual assault.
No. 3 — Azka Fayyaz (SMART)
Fayyaz has shown her desire to be involved as a representative for students, having served on ASUCD’s External Affairs Commission and as the head of logistics for this year’s Muslim Student Association’s West Coast Conference. Her platforms reflect her desire to fulfill her role as a senator in representing and informing students.
No. 4 — Arya Shirani (NOW)
Shirani impressed us with his willingness to get involved with ASUCD immediately after transferring to UC Davis. Although his platforms reflect his unfamiliarity with campus, we believe that he is capable of tackling the learning curve that is associated with ASUCD.
Voting is completed online at the ASUCD elections website, elections.ucdavis.edu, from Feb. 18 at 8 a.m. to Feb. 21 at 8 a.m.
