Sam appears to be a true outsider in most senses of the word. The only ASUW involvement I can find on his facebook is that he, at one point, was a member of the Senate Publicity, Outreach and Membership Committee. He seems to be an extremely involved individual, especially at the State level. He has been an incredibly active citizen.
I don't believe I've met Sam yet, but based on his facebook and some googling, he seems to be in a similar mold to Anttimo Bennet; very socially active, very political, and very involved in the local community. Based purely on his list of activities and involvement, he is an incredibly strong candidate for President. He has lead large groups in the past, has worked with administrators and lawmakers, and has worked with various communities on and off campus.
The primary flaw I see currently is in his list of positions. His first position is on tuition, where he claims that it should be in the hands of the Regents. That position is contrary to the positions ASUW has held for the last twenty years, or more, and if Sam wishes to change that long held position he will need to convince all of the returning ASUW members, the advisors, and potentially student governments at other schools. If Sam is elected, this will be the testing ground. Can he bring the rest of ASUW around to his view, or will he switch his position to match the traditional view.
EDIT: After finding his second page, which has significantly more detail, I found that Sam puts forward a few rather bold goals and statements. He says, as I mentioned above, that tuition should be locally controlled; that a mandatory transportation fee would lower the cost of the UPass and prevent parking rates from increasing (he does not flat out say we should have a mandatory fee, but why bring it up unless you support it?); and that he will be making bi-weekly trips to Olympia to "effectively make our voice heard," which makes me worry he does not think I've done my job this year (I am the current student lobbyist, and spent all of Winter Quarter living and working in Olympia to make our voice heard. If Sam is elected, he will need to work with whomever is the student lobbyist next year to coordinate efforts and not split the student voice. If the President and the student lobbyist are both down in Olympia, who should the legislators listen to? Good communication and coordination can prevent that problem, but it has to be good).
I have gotten to know Sam a little bit this year in my capacity as the Chair of the Senate Publicity, Outreach, and Membership Committee (he is currently still a member, as far as I am aware). His ability to get to the heart of tricky issues and ask good questions has impressed me. I consider him to be a serious contender to the position of President if he is able to effectively advertise and promote himself to the student body.
ReplyDeleteHis position on local control, contradictory to standing ASUW opinion, is definitely worrisome. It is something that will need to be dealt with if he is elected, particularly during the drafting of next year's Legislative Agenda and during next year's lobbying efforts. The ASUW must have consistency on this fundamental issue - varying opinions from year to year will be unlikely to send a strong message to Olympia.