MSA slate runs without platform

Presidential and vice presidential candidates find their issues.

By Campbell Massie and Megan Stroup

Published Oct. 28, 2008

Missouri Students Association presidential and vice presidential candidates Phyllis Williams and Jonathan Snipes do not have a platform. It isn't a gimmick or an oversight. They just don't have one.

Williams and Snipes believe it would be their job to act as a liaison between students and administration.

Williams said she felt a platform is a list of promises candidates make to voters, but they don't know if any of it is feasible until they are in the position. She said she did not want to get into a position and then find out that certain things are not feasible, but be constrained by an uninformed platform.

"I understand their function but nothing about them appealed to me," Williams said.

Instead of running on a platform, the slate would rather run on their experience without making any promises, Snipes said.

A big issue Williams said she would like to improve upon in MSA is transparency because students have a right to know what is going on in their student government, she said. Besides keeping students updated, Williams would also like to talk about campus safety and diversity and learn more about those issues, she said.

The hardest part of running without a platform, Snipes said, is the questions from those who do not understand the concept.

But people have taken the time to get to know the slate during their visits to organizations and they have gotten to delve deeper into who they are, Williams said.

Former MSA President Tony Luetkemeyer said he did not necessarily think running without a platform was a bad idea, because some candidates get caught up in making promises without fully understanding what the job entails.

Luetkemeyer did think that it would make running difficult, as the platform is what differentiates candidates, he said.

Former MSA President John Andersen said he thought that running without a campaign was a bad idea, as it does not help students understand how that slate will improve their experience.

"I don't think that a candidate without a platform would have been taken seriously in my year," Andersen said.

Williams believes the campus has grown since then and that her and Snipe's seriousness as candidates has never been questioned. 

Candidates Jordan Paul and Colleen Hoffmann released their platform early this month, focusing on safety and sustainability, according to a previous Maneater report.

MSA presidential candidate Joe Fessehaye and running mate Lindsey Abell created their platform with two major issues in mind: communication and convenience.

"We already knew that communication had room for improvement," Fessehaye said. He said that when he and Abell were obtaining the necessary signatures to run for office, they had to explain to almost every student what MSA was.

"The surprising thing to me was it wasn't just freshmen who didn't know," Abell said.

If elected, Fessehaye and Abell said they want the student body to be aware of what the student government is doing for them, not on MSA's schedule, but on the students' time. More specific plans for improving student communication to MSA can be found in the MSA elections story in this issue.

The second component of Fessehaye and Abell's platform is convenience. Their platform says that they believe everyone's experience at MU can be improved with more ease in day-to-day activities and greater overall convenience.

One issue Fessehaye and Abell said they hope to fix is making class enrollment easier to understand on MyZou. Some ideas are color-coding classes to show what will count toward your major, and collecting sample 8-semester schedules in one location on MyZou. Fessehaye said he has talked to the Division of Information Technology and this looks feasible.

Two more things that are being looked at are increasing the capacity of MU e-mail accounts and cheaper or possibly free student ID card replacements.

Fessehaye and Abell also said they feel it is important to expand the volunteer base of STRIPES. Fessehaye has plans to implement an incentives program for STRIPES volunteers including free meals in residence halls and discounts at the bookstore for frequent volunteers.