In the upcoming ASUW Presidential election, students are faced with three choices. Ty Shockley and Rainey Evans, John Fritz and Jordan Blazovich and finally Ben Weztel and Jaynie Welsh. As an editorial staff, we have concluded that Fritz and Blazovich are the duo that the Branding Iron recommends students vote to fill the roles of President and Vice President.
Each ticket offers admirable points in their campaign, all providing viewpoints that seem to strengthen the future of the University of Wyoming.
Shockley and Evans expressed interest in forgoing their salary from the position, and have that money directly invested into student groups and RSOs. Their campaign is hyper-focused on student groups, and continuing programs that are effective for student wellness. They have spent a large part of their campaign talking with student groups, as opposed to standard campaigning measures such as tabling in the breezeway or hanging banners. Another pillar of the Shockley and Evans ticket is student outreach. They have set the lofty goal of reaching every student affected by ASUW policy, along with strictly enforcing office hours for ASUW Senators. While much of this is noble, it seems impractical once they take office. We appreciate their vision to institute such sweeping change to ASUW, but the framework may not exist for them to do so effectively.
Wetzel and Welsh gave three main campaign points, which can be seen on their posters and banners around campus and online. First, they want to strengthen ties with the Laramie community. They feel as though there is some sort of disconnect between the university and the City of Laramie. Wetzel and Welsh are working closely with the Laramie Downtown Alliance to encourage campus-sponsored events to occur downtown, and for downtown businesses to bring their events to campus. Next, they want to increase campus involvement with students. Due to the high rate of students lost after their freshmen year here at UW, they want to encourage students to feel at home on campus so they have something to look forward to in their time at UW. Finally, they want to improve the well being of students through the creation of a Student Wellness Advisor in the ASUW executive branch. All of these are honorable, but we take issue with Wetzel and Welsh for a myriad of reasons. Senator Wetzel did not properly address our issues with the Union Visioning process, even after we came to him as a concerned student group. This does not seem like the kind of candidate that should head a student government. They did not discuss any form of outreach for student voice in ASUW, which is already lacking. Wetzel and Welsh are status-quo candidates that do not represent any real, fundamental change in ASUW and will make decisions that are best for their acumen and not that of the student body.
A happy medium exists with Fritz and Blazovich in their campaign of #imSOLD. SOLD is an acronym for Student Pride, Outreach, Lobbying and Diversity. Their vision on outreach stands head and shoulders above the rest because they have a legitimate process to execute their vision. They plan on marketing further with WyoVocal and allowing more student ideas to be presented to the ASUW senate. Fritz and Blazovich also want to lobby the state legislature for further investment in UW. While we agree with this point, it may prove more difficult than they anticipate currently. We do recognize a major shortcoming of this ticket is their lack of involvement with current diversity efforts at UW. They were unaware of the diversity committee being cut prior to attending the International Coffee Hour as hosted by the International Student Association, and do not have a clear vision to implement further diversity on this campus. They possess the capabilities to improve diversity; they lack only a concise plan as of now. We feel encouraged this will change once they take office. Fritz and Blazovich also encourage communication on a very broad scale, which bodes well for their future administration. They want to implement town hall meetings to increase transparency, and take time out of their schedule to personally hear the concerns of all students that want to make their voices heard. This is fundamentally different from the other two tickets, whom discuss student voice but lack a plan to actually listen.
Here at the Branding Iron, we are more sold on Fritz and Blazovich than any of the other candidates, and trust in their abilities to take the reigns of President and Vice President of ASUW and fulfill their campaign promises.
