ASUA candidates begin election campaigning

Kristy Mangos Arizona Daily Wildcat Anthony Hill, ASUA elections commissioner, verifies election packets yesterday. Candidates for president were required to gathered 500 signatures each.

Last night, the ASUA Election Commission released the list of candidates running for 1997-98 ASUA offices after verifying the petitions of students wanting their names on the Feb. 25 and 26 primary election ballot.

Senior and Undergraduate Senate Chairman Gilbert Davidson, senior Lance Hill and junior Brook Rosenbaum will face Wilson in the ASUA presidential race.

Carol Thompson, associate dean of students, said she does not recall any ASUA presidents running for a second term in the 17 years she has been at the UA.

Until four years ago, Thompson was the director of student activities and had an office in ASUA.

Dean of Students Melissa Vito said via electronic mail that a second-term president would already be aware of the campus organization and would have a good sense of issues and know how to get things accomplished.

"At the same time, there is an energy in student government which in part exists because of the turnover each year and the change in priorities and agendas which tend to build around those of the president," Vito said.

Wilson said that as an incumbent, she will be criticized and highly scrutinized.

"I welcome that," she said.

Wilson said running for a second term will be a unique opportunity.

"While there is a lot that can be accomplished in one year, there is also a lot of learning," she said.

Thompson said it is up to the students to determine which presidential candidate best advances their concerns and needs.

The candidates for president had to gather at least 500 signatures before they could be officially considered a candidate by the Elections Commission, Elections Commissioner Anthony Hill said.

The candidates for the two vice presidential races needed 400 signatures and Senate candidates needed 300, he said.

Running for executive vice president are:

• senior Jason Arcaro

• junior Casey Cuny, an Undergraduate Senator

• junior Sean Murray, an ASUA club advocate

• junior J.J. Rico, who is also an Undergraduate Senator.

Those campaigning for administrative vice president are:

• junior Eric Clingan

• junior Brice Cox

• junior Marco Dominguez

• sophomore Tara Taylor

• junior Jamie Kanter.

Twenty-one students are running for 10 seats on the Senate. None of the candidates currently serve on the Senate.

The candidates' majors were not available from the Elections Commission last night.

All undergraduate candidates must have a grade point average of at least 2.0 and must carry more than seven units, Hill said. Graduate candidates need a 3.0 GPA and more than three units, he said.

This year's election will see changes in some campaigning rules.

The elections code allows campaigning on off-campus residences but candidates are not allowed to post banners or flyers on public streets, Hill said. Last year, campaigning was restricted to campus boundaries, with the exception of fraternity and sorority houses, he said.

Hill said the commission has a new philosophy for their role in the campaign.

"Our role is simply to facilitate the elections and ensure the outcome of campaign results," he said.

Hill said that last year, candidates used the ASUA elections code as a way to battle other candidates.

"The commission was hurt by this because we had to spend time and manpower nit-picking," Hill said.

The elections commission plans to hold a "Meet the Candidates" forum Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Student Union Rincon Room, Hill said.

The commission will sponsor a presidential debate Feb. 27 in which the two candidates who won the primaries will speak.

The general election will be held March 4 and 5. According to the elections code, candidates are not permitted to begin campaigning until Sunday at noon.

President

• Senior Gilbert Davidson

• Senior Lance Hill

• Junior Brook Rosenbaum

• Senior Rhonda Wilson

Executive vice president

• Senior Jason Arcaro

• Junior Casey Cuny

• Junior Sean Murray

• Junior J.J. Rico

Administrative vice president

• Junior Eric Clingan

• Junior Brice Cox

• Junior Marco Dominguez

• Sophomore Tara Taylor

• Junior Jamie Kanter

Senate

• Sophomore Francisco Aguilar

• Freshman Michael Coatney

• Junior Amy Dahlberg

• Sophomore Thomas Dornis

• Sophomore Jonathan Fine

• Sophomore Jared P. Green

• Sophomore Leslie Hunter

• Junior Summer Katzenbach

• Junior Justin Klump

• Sophomore Treye Konrath

• Freshman Derick Kurdy

• Junior Josue Limon

• Junior Morgan Long

• Junior Stephanie Lyons

• Senior Mary Peterson

• Junior Alejandro Rios

• Sophomore Ryan Rosensteel

• Junior Chris Sandell

• Junior Rosanna Savone

• Sophomore Aaron Young

• Junior Paul Zaragoza