Divisive comments weren’t from SURE
For the record, Andy Jones is not a member of the Students
United for Reform and Equality slate. His actions and statements
were made on his own behalf. What David Chung’s letter
neglected to include is that Student Empowerment! spent a good
amount of time taunting SURE candidates and myself before the
election results were announced, which served to inflame passions
on both sides. The unfortunate thing about elections is that
sympathizers on both sides sometimes act and make statements in
haste. There have been misconceptions and misrepresentations by
both slates, which I sincerely apologize for. All SURE candidates
believe in inclusiveness and will work toward this end. This campus
needs unity, particularly at a time when tensions are high.
David Dahle Third-year USAC president elect
Empowerment! should blame themselves
Christopher Neal should call the Student Empowerment!
slate’s loss of the USAC majority what it really is ““ a
loss. Student Empowerment! did not lose because students were
afraid of voting their conscience (this is a student government
election, not a third-world military dictatorship). They lost
because their traditional voter base of minority student groups
wasn’t enough to win a majority and because their history of
aggressive, divisive politics alienated other potential voters.
They lost because students became disillusioned to USAC or became
more receptive to the more inclusive, less melodramatic SURE
slate.
Neal’s letter was a bridge between the Student
Empowerment! of the past with the Student Empowerment! of the
future. He began the letter by hypocritically criticizing the
Greeks for making use of “group-think tactics” and then
turned around to try to appeal to Greeks and other students to
consider Student Empowerment! next year. I hope that this is in
preparation for a 2003 USAC campaign that is more inclusive, less
divisive and with less naive, adolescent political rhetoric.
Christopher Golis Third-year Microbiology, immunology
and molecular genetics