Illustration by Cody Angell

As I was late for a class, yet again, a banner by Old Main caught my attention. In big, yummy, green letters, Krispy Kremes (or what I thought were Krispy Kremes) glowed off of a white banner. Immediately my mouth started to water, droplets of saliva dripped slowly from my chin as I imagined devouring a delicious chocolate donut.

Oh, shyza! It isn't an advertisement for donuts but a campaign banner for the ASUA Spring 2002 elections. ASUA? What do they have to do with Krispy Kremes?

All right, first of all, kudos to the guy running for senator who made that banner. You make me so hungry. Second of all, I have decided to dedicate this week's column to ASUA's elections.

On the ASUA Web site, we find the description of their activities: "Programs range from planning carnivals, raising funds for scholarships, and representing student concerns to the state Legislature. Also, ASUA is responsible for the well-being of the near 400 clubs and organizations that make up the campus."

That's quite a bit of undertaking, and the state Legislature bit is quite empowering, considering how many recent problems the student body faces regarding issues that are primarily in the state's control.

Some very admirable ASUA programs are SafeRide, Spring Fling, free legal services and the student health advisory committee. They do have some say in how our university works?!

If you don't vote, you don't have a right to complain. This applies to national presidential elections and congressional elections as well as to ASUA elections. If you don't put your two cents in for the Feb. 26 or 27 primaries about who you want to be in charge of all the above issues, don't cry about the results later.

For those of us who do vote, we usually pay a lot of attention to campaign platforms before an election and what a candidate can bring to office. As part of my research, I dug out the little brochure that represents the candidates and their platforms.

Running for president are Doug Hartz and Aaron Black. Okay, the low down is that one guy has previous ASUA know-how and one is an ASUA virgin. They both have decent platforms - Hartz is advocating more specific issues that he has already been working on as a senator, and Black is pursuing more "feel-good" subjects like grass around campus and a misting system around the patio. While those are good ideas for Black, it seems that his blurb in this brochure overlooks the more important issues he could pursue. Same goes with his running mate, Wai Sallas, whose basic platform is that he also is a newbie.

The only concern I have is that a fresh perspective is great, but shouldn't there be more to your cause than that?

I really enjoyed Jennifer Reece's blurb because it states her past experience, and, in bold, her platforms: Club Olympics, Presidents' Forum and club funding. I like the to-the-point attitude because we all know that even if we get our lazy butts to the voting booth, we aren't going to spend too much time to research these candidates.

Moving on to the administrative vice president position, or what I like to call the "Superhuman position." Jered Mansell is applying to be a residence hall director, which is a full-time job for some, as is being a full-time student and administrative vice president. Sam Zipp is the president of the Honors College, advertising chair for the University Red Cross Points for Pints Campaign and an officer in Habitat for Humanity. Both Mansell's and Zipp's platforms seem a little ambiguous, and I can't really tell how they plan to "build a more united campus" or "increase campus safety."

I just don't have the space to go into the 17 senatorial candidates, but I will say this: Only two are girls, a third are greek, only one has previous ASUA experience and the others are trying to tread beyond their jurisdiction into promising things that just aren't in ASUA's power - Campus Health, the greek system and Cactus Grill. Some amusing platforms are James Gosses' "Pro-Greek," Jason Poreda's "Communication and Advising," or Jeremy Levison's platform: "Dedicated, Determined, Dependable."

For those of you who are interested in ASUA, you should take the time to learn more about some of these candidates before electing them. For those of you who don't care, remember that these people represent you.

So get out there and vote!

Columnist's note: I also wanted to wish all the Muslims a very happy Eid Mubarak!

I know this most holy day goes by unnoticed, but I hope you all have a great Eid!