The AUSA Election Committee is expected to decide tonight whether presidential and vice presidential candidates in the upcoming AUSA election can spend a maximum of $1,000 on campaigning.
At present candidates for president and vice president can spend $500 and candidates for senator can spend $250. The election is May 13, 14 and 15 and the candidate forum is May 6 in the Pub on the first floor of Driscoll North.
Earlier this spring, the Senate created an Elections Committee and appointed Nic Marcheso as the elections commissioner.
On the committee are also Senior Senator Laura Szynskie, DCB Senator Andrew Petraitis and AHUM/SOCS Senator Amber Kirchenschlager. Membership was limited to students who will not be running in the May election.
On Campus Senator Josh Johnson said, “Senate decided to give Elections Committee full control of [elections] and bylaws by which candidates must adhere to. The Elections Committee is the one who is going to be the decision-maker.”
Last year the $250 amount was a guideline for how much candidates could spend, Carl Johnson, who advises the Senate, said.
Nevertheless, Petraitis said that the amount of $250 was insufficient.
“I think elections are absolutely freedom of speech and you cannot limit speech,” he said. Referring to the members of the committee, he said, “They represent Senate. They should apply for appeal from Senate.”
Freshman Senator Ben Burke admitted that winning could be done without spending money.
He said, however, “I think we’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity. It’s not a bad thing [to] have $1,000.”
Senior Senator Laura Szynskie disagreed.
“This is not a money war,” she said. “You can do it just fine without spending a lot of money.”
Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering Senator Kristen Weaver agreed.
“We have to limit spending because there could be a lot of inequality on campus,” she said. “$250 is a lot of money.”
Chair of Marketing Kim Kirven said, “Don’t make this about money, make it about the issues.”
In response, Marcheso volunteered to collaborate with Kirven to produce fliers on candidates that would not come out of candidates’ budgets.
The discussion ended when AHUM/SOCS Senator Amber Kirschenschlager moved to allow Elections Commission to decide on the spending limit. The motion passed 11-0-3.
Also at the meeting, Senator Petraitis, who is head of the Senate’s Finance Committee that allocates student organizations’ funding, said funding applications will be finalized May 3. However, $40,000-50,000 will be available for appeal to allow for organizations to obtain further funds.
The Diversity Committee unanimously decided to fund a film festival this quarter for the Undergraduate Women’s Council for $1,000. The committee is headed by Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering Senator Chris Adams.
The films will begin at 6 p.m. every Wednesday in May in the Lindsey Auditorium in Sturm Hall.
“Each night we will be offering a wide selection of quality food,” member Lys Smith said. “The first night we’re having catering from Star Market Catering on Evans Avenue. The night that I’m coordinating, May 14, there will be Chinese food to go with the theme of our Chinese film.”
“We met our committee last Monday and then we read over an application that was sent by [Women’s Council president] Jessica Sanchez and we thought it was a very good program that brought women’s issues to campus,” he said. “They were asking for $1,000 and it didn’t seem unreasonable for the quality that they were going to bring.”
The committee accepts applications for funding during the year from fundable or non-fundable student organizations and individuals. Applications can be found on line in connection to the AUSA Senate website.
“It’s open to anybody who’s a university student,” he said.
On Campus Senator Chris Sivavajchaipong confirmed that this quarter’s Campus Collaborative Luncheon will be Friday, May 23.
