As the spring semester reaches its halfway point, it is time for students to start thinking about the future. On Wednesday, students will elect their peers to represent them in next year's Association of Students of the University of Nebraska.
This election will be tough for students – all three parties have a strong, diverse set of candidates with ideas to improve the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. However, one party stands above the rest, and it is the Daily Nebraskan's distinct pleasure to endorse the FUSION party.
Although all three parties offered notable, if not admirable, campaigns, we feel that the deciding factor for our endorsement should reflect the balance between practicality and innovation.
The RENEW party presents an ambitious platform and dedicated executive candidates with experience making a difference on campus. RENEW emphasizes important issues at UNL – increasing sustainability and communication across campus, to name a few. Where RENEW goes wrong is they spread themselves too thin, specifically in their lofty idea of making 475-RIDE a student-run business despite the current lack of funding. On the whole, their platform is by far the longest and most diverse and seems a bit idealistic at times. There is neither sufficient time nor resources in one academic year for a party – even a strong one – to accomplish these numerous tasks in addition to handling unforeseen issues of the future.
N VISION, on the other hand, is running on what seems like a bare-bones platform. Two of their main three platforms seem fairly easy to achieve or are already in the works regardless of their input, and the third is not a good idea. The group wants to create a Student Organization Representative Council, to bring Registered Student Organizations together to discuss campus issues. However, conventional wisdom toward ASUN would dictate that this group would not only create just another level of bureaucracy between students and their government, but could also further alienate those students who aren't part of an RSO.
FUSION is the balance between the idealism of RENEW and the pragmatism of N VISION. FUSION focuses on a few main ideas they hope to achieve if elected, all of which are ambitious but feasible. They hope to increase communication with students by sending ASUN representatives out into the student body, to put a face to the name of ASUN. They also want to create a carpool pass program that would work with the established infrastructure of UNL Parking and Transit Services, which will save students money and alleviate many parking problems on campus. Finally, FUSION wants to focus on arts at UNL, celebrating student work and increasing availability of movies, plays, concerts and more for students.
Not only does FUSION offer a strong platform of solid ideas, their executive candidates are personable and passionate about making a change. This is not because ASUN is the logical next step for an already politically active set of students, but out of sincere consciousness towards the idea, as cheesy as it may sound, that we're all in this together.
FUSION candidates are experienced leaders, both inside ASUN and around UNL, but they act like any other student. If elected, they would be open and approachable, increasing ASUN's transparency and trust within the student body. FUSION's humanity, above all, separates them from N VISION and RENEW.
When logging on to WAM or MyRed to vote this Wednesday, choose FUSION – the party with a diverse, balanced ticket, who will work with students to separate UNL as a university focused on the future while acknowledging the responsibilities of the present.
opinion@dailynebraskan.com
I live near city campus, where I have classes on Monday Wednesday and Friday. I bike these three days of the week, because it doesn't make sense for me to drive. My Tuesday Thursday classes are all on east campus, which is too far from my house for biking to make sense. One of my roommates is also on east these two days and we take turns driving each other.
So yes, I do carpool already. But right now, my roommate and I are sharing a parking pass that is really only registered for her car. With FUSION's carpool pass, we would be able to register both vehicles on the same pass and split the cost of the pass. This would be a great help.
Also, I see the argument about the underused faculty carpool passes as non-pertinent. Students tend to have to worry about the cost of these permits more so than faculty do. If you've attended any of the debates, you know that student carpool passes are widely, SUCCESSFULLY, used at the other Big XII schools.
This platform is not at all superfluous OR ineffective.
And everyone dislikes an article in support of others' ideas.
Period.
this is a pretty clear outline of reasons to vote Fusion, with focus on issues and all.
sorry you're upset.
As a commuter student, where is your personal accountability for already implementing a car pool plan with people who live in your building or nearby? Why do you need a piece of paper to officially allow you to be a sustainable student and carppool? And p.s., there is a carpool system already in place: three faculty members use it. Congratulations FUSION for endorsing a platform thats superfluous and ineffective, and congratulations to the DN for more bouts of unbiased journalism. These are simply additional reasons why students see the DN as nothing more than umbrellas on rainy days.
I'm fairly sure that all of the executive candidates of all three parties live on-campus. Kudos to Fusion for finally doing something to help us commuter students out and reaching BEYOND the usual group of ASUN-involved, on-campus students that are usually appealed to by candidate parties.