EDITOR’S NOTE: This endorsement is the opinion of The Runner’s editorial board. We interviewed the ASI president, executive vice president and vice president campus life and are endorsing those we thought have the best platforms and ideas even for unopposed positions.
Associated Students Inc. candidates for the 2017-2018 school year campaigned and today is election day. Electing the right candidate means the difference between a united campus or a dysfunctional relationship between the student body and its leaders.
The ASI representatives are the people who voice the students’ concerns and serve as a bridge between the students and CSU Bakersfield’s administration.
These are the people who students trust to speak for us and advocate in our best interest. It is important for all students to know their candidates and feel comfortable with their platforms.
The Runner newspaper’s editorial board encourages students to not be led by the popularity of a candidate. We encourage students to examine and research the candidates they will be putting in office to represent them in different issues affecting our campus.
The editorial board has met with different candidates and have decided to endorse Mohamed Cook for Vice President Campus Life. We support Mariela Gomez for the presidency and Precious Nwaoha for the vice presidency, both of whom are running unopposed.
Vice President of Campus Life
This is the first time The Runner newspaper will be endorsing a campus life candidate. One of the reasons being is that this position did not exist until this semester after ASI made changes to some bylaws and restructured the organization during the Feb. 16 meeting. The other reason is that the position was previously called Vice President Campus Programming.
Cook’s platform revolves around the motto “Run for it.”
“Go for the things you were once scared of,” said Cook.
The editorial board feels that Cook has the experience, the personality and the qualifications to grow the Campus Life position and engage the campus to grow.
He explained his resourcefulness and he demonstrated his innovative thinking with his experience working in the Campus Programming office.
Cook believes that the school is growing and the campus spirit just needs more motivation.
“The school is cool, we just need to dot our “I’s” and cross our “t’s”,” said Cook.
We see a positive future for campus life if Cook is elected. We stand in full support behind Mohammed Cook.
ASI President
We are in support of Mariela Gomez for the presidency. However, the board has concerns.
Gomez has a background in student leadership that will allow her to be an excellent president. This position postulates great responsibility, collaboration and organization.
The presidency requires an objective mentality and transparency.
Most of the editorial board agrees that Gomez has these qualities and without a doubt will be able to fulfill her duties and be an effective president.
The concerns that the editorial board had was the fact that the position is unopposed.
There is no other choice and the students are essentially gifting the presidency to Gomez, without hearing or learning about another candidate. The editorial board feels that oppositions allow for more ideas to be available for students to choose from. The presidency is the most significant in student government.
There should be more options for students than just one candidate.
Executive Vice President
The next available position in ASI is that of the Executive Vice President. This position is the right hand to the president. The editorial board supports Precious Nwaoha for the vice presidency. However, as is the case with Gomez, we have our reservations.
The editorial board feels that Nwaoha will be a great vice president.
Nwaoha advocated for transparency and for a more in-depth understanding from the students as to what ASI is. Her experience in ASI is well established with three years of service to the student body under her belt.
Nwaoha said she was disappointed that she was running unopposed because she had already started to prepare for an opposition.
The editorial board agrees with Nwaoha. We regret to see that there is no opposition for this position because it hinders the student body’s ability to have a choice and hear different ideas from different candidates.
It is concerning to see that no other students were willing to run for the two most important positions in ASI. It raises the question of why did students not apply?
Is it due to being intimidated? Nwaoha said it might not be that they are intimidated but rather students do not have a clear understanding what the president and the vice president do.
Although both the presidential and the vice presidential positions are running unopposed, The Runner felt the obligation to inform students and either support or not support Gomez and Nwaoha, and the Runner supports both of them.
