This time in the academic year, as students eagerly await summer break, usually brings with it a self-induced withdrawal from all things “school” on the part of the CSUN student population. However, with higher education statewide being threatened by unprecedented funding cuts, the CSUN community has kept a healthy buzz in the air by engaging the CSUN administration and state legislature in the form of marches, walk outs and town hall meetings.
March 29 and 30 will be another opportunity for students to engage in a way they haven’t in the past, as low voter turn-out has shown, by voting for one of their fellow students to represent them as the Associated Students (A.S.) president.
In the past, the Daily Sundial staff has been reluctant to endorse students running in the A.S. elections. However, so moved by the engagement on the part of the campus community, we too, as a student resource, thought we should mirror our readers and not be apathetic in these trying times.
And with that said, it is with a heavy heart we write this endorsement. Heavy because we want nothing more than to express full support for Conor Lansdale or Amanda Lynch, the two presidential candidates. However, both candidates, when asked about their platforms, were lost. Neither could explain how they planned to go about making visible change at CSUN that would be in the best interest of the CSUN student population.
Because of this, we with hesitation endorse Conor Lansdale for A.S. president.
Lansdale not only served as an A.S. senator for two consecutive years, this year his role as vice president under A.S. president Abel Pacheco has led him to be well-versed in all matters concerning student government. During this academic year he gained knowledge and experience in restructuring student resources and events around a reduced budget, a quality most desirable in a candidate for the 2010-11 academic year. Also, he has already established a working relationship with CSUN President Jolene Koester which will only strengthen the influence he has with school administration.
Not only does he bring experience to the table, he also embodies school spirit in the traditional sense – an attribute that CSUN has struggled to conquer over the years. He is an active member in the Greek system as apart of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He also serves as an orientation leader, informing newly-admitted CSUN students how to get the most out of their college experience.
But it is these glowing candidate attributes that give the Sundial staff the most hesistation. Everything that makes Lansdale a great candidate also makes him out of touch with his constituency.
His years in A.S. have led Lansdale to know the system so well that he may feel he doesn’t need to try as hard to succeed in bringing student concerns to the forefront.
The majority of CSUN students aren’t engaged on campus. After spending so much time around deeply involved students, does Lansdale have the drive to be innovative in his tactics to get the detached involved?
Who’s to say what Lansdale will bring to the table. But the Daily Sundial asks that those things continue to be student focused and allow for student involvement.
Our short list of requests include frequent and continued town hall meetings and continued president’s reports published in the Daily Sundial.
Lansdale, your fliers read, “Access, experience, education.” That’s what we want and we are trusting we will receive.
