Don’t go out and vote this yearWe could critique every ticket’s platforms, but it would be a waste of our time. So we will tackle our biggest problem with Student Government. The reason people are always upset about SG spending “our money” — considering we pay fees that operate SG — is because we don’t get a vote on it. You can say, “Well, you have representatives from each college as senators.” But that is bull. We think you might want to add my next suggestion to your platforms — it might even gain you some votes. Any amount over $5,000 must be voted on by the student body. Simple, isn’t it? I know a lot of people would get tired of voting on things, but they also wouldn’t be able to complain when you waste and mismanage our money. And letting us choose how to spend $5,000, after wasting nearly $40,000 on furniture and another $70,363 on the Dodson gardens without a vote, is a slap in the face. I’m sure a lot of people support these projects, but somehow I think letting the students vote on it couldn’t hurt. So until we actually see a candidate that will change things, we will not vote and will ask everyone else to do the same. We can promise you that by joining in unity with us, and not voting with one voice, we can take a step forward and bring more for LSU and SG to the next level of doing nothing in ‘09.Taylor Crafthistory junior– – –Make it Reign on March 24We are running for Student body president and vice president of LSU. Unlike some of our opponents, we are not here to make false promises or pretend that we can know what will happen next year. With budget cuts looming and an ever-changing administration, we can only imagine all the issues we will face.We are here to promise you that we will handle these issues to the best of our ability and act as you, the students, want. We are not going to push our own agenda or our own issues. We are here to face the issues the students bring to us and issues that come about.Rather than limit ourselves to a push card, we intend to face the broad spectrum of issues that face students. Rather than patting ourselves on the back for successfully implementing a trivial push card promise, we’ll be working to make sure Student Government isn’t wasting the money of the students, which often seems to be the case.The problem with making promises is once you realize you’re judged by your push card, the tunnel vision begins. You end up missing the fact that your government just tried to spend $5,000 of student money on new office furniture because you’re too busy trying to get public feedings for our pet tiger.If elected, we will welcome a high level of scrutiny. We are confident we won’t disappoint.We don’t have a ticket and don’t want to owe anyone any favors because they helped us get elected. This is about our promise to the students: each and every student, no one student more than any other. We are here to represent the views of the LSU student body, not our own.Help us Make it Reign on March 24, 2009.Jeffrey Noelmass communication sophomore– – – -Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at [email protected]