Editorial: Collison for president

Two candidates running for Duke Student Government president stand out above the rest, Matthew Slovik and Taylor Collison. Although either would make an excellent DSG president, Collison stands out above Slovik both because of his broad understanding of the issues DSG will face next year and because of his overarching vision for the organization.

Collison comes to the race as something of an outsider, having served on DSG as a legislator his freshman year before leaving the organization and serving as Craven Quadrangle president and social chair of Alpha Tao Omega fraternity this year. Collison is also responsible for founding EZDevil.com, a portal site that provided students a place to evaluate courses before the institutionalized SACES came into being.

This breadth of experience, both inside and outside of DSG, gives Collison a unique perspective on what DSG can and should accomplish. Collison understands how DSG should function as a lobbying body, a liaison between the administration and students. Additionally, Collison best understands DSG's role in relations to the Duke University Union and Campus Council--each of these three groups has their role and DSG's should be policy and lobbying, not programming. Additionally, he wants to revamp the Student Organization Finance Committee process, which is sorely in need of review to more effectively serve student groups, and has a comprehensive vision for what each committee should work on next year.

Slovik is clearly the candidate with the most DSG experience, having previously served on the executive committee as vice president for facilities and athletics last year. One of the most encouraging parts of Slovik's campaign is his plan to get the DSG president out-and-about talking to students. Whoever is elected should copy this portion of Slovik's platform.

Slovik also clearly understands the issues, but his platform is less broad than Collison's, perhaps focusing too heavily on facilities and athletics. Additionally, Slovik understands the importance of building teamwork and unity among the executive board in order to have an effective year as president. The accomplishments of DSG are not individual ones, but rather those of a group.

Adam Katz, who has two years of legislative experience, has powerful ideas about how to improve student services and his desire to develop a system of discounts for Duke students at local vendors should be encouraged. However, the implementation of such a system is not the job of a DSG president, and Katz lacks the broader vision to lead the organization.

Mike Sacks's greatest qualification is his enthusiasm, which is something sorely needed in DSG. However, enthusiasm will only care one so far, and Sacks's campaign lacks the substantive issues needed for a successful presidency. Moreover, an effective DSG president will need to begin planning immediately for next year, which Sacks cannot do since he is studying in Los Angeles this semester.

Shaomeng Wang should be commended for his ability to recognize the problems facing DSG, but his platform lacks any substantive solutions to the problems that he points out.