Marty Obst is a man who knows where the Undergraduate Student Government should go, and how to get there.
That's the impression the Fusion party frontman left with the Daily Egyptian editorial board. After meeting with all of the candidates, the board agreed Obst would make the strongest USG president. While Freedom party candidate Michael Jarard has good experience, Obst's bio reads like an ideal precursor to becoming the students' top dawg. He has served on countless committees in the University and community, such as Southern at 150, and on the board of directors of the local American Cancer Society. As the Housing Commissioner, he finally made the student-tenant guide a reality this spring after years of speculation.
As InterGreek council president, he mediated between warring fraternities and sororities, some of which are mired in 50 years of bad blood. This is the perfect experience for dealing with the faction-frazzled USG. Negotiation/compromise is a word pair that for Obst describes leadership - so much that he wants USG to dissolve parties altogether and come together as one force. When Chancellor Wendler came to USG to propose his tuition hike, a move he could have easily chosen not to make, he was met with a belligerent and childish Senate. Obst, like all other candidates, opposes an immediate tuition hike, but stressed the need for more professionalism among USG brass. Obst is a stickler for working with the administration instead of against it, and his experience has taught him the proper channels by which to do it.
At the same time, he isn't afraid to take controversial stands in the name of the students and work diligently to see them through. Instead of simply protesting the encroachment law, he would "go after the problem in means that will get it off the books." Other candidates seemed just as heavy as Obst on ideas, but they were light on ways to implement them. Fresh-faced freshman Timothy Wills has the potential to one day be a USG strongman, but the Visionary party platform of "image overhaul" has not been thoroughly developed. Michael Rivers, the Your party candidate, lacks experience and campaign direction, running on a largely unformulated platform of diversity.
Jarard is Obst's strongest contender, and his Freedom party virtually rules the USG Senate. The Freedom party has modest gains on its side, such as building a diverse constituency, including handicapped, gay/lesbian and international students. But Jarard's goals seem under-thought compared to Obst's well-planned initiatives. While the Freedom Party raised about 140 signatures opposing the tuition hike to bring to the Board of Trustees, Obst explained that he could have easily garnered 1,000 by asking all senators to raise 25 signatures. Knowing logically that only about half would make it happen, Obst and his execs would also raise 50 each.
"If you get 1,000 signatures to the Board of Trustees, they're going to think twice about implementing that tuition increase," Obst said. "You get 143 signatures, they're going to say, 'OK, we've heard the students, but we believe it's important.'"
Jarard and Obst both agree that the Registered Student Organization's funding process is a total mess and want to explain the process better and offer the paperwork earlier. But Obst wants to start an RSO advisory board, in which all RSOs elect a member to help decide how "their money" gets distributed.
Obst's practical approach and real life know-how are a great complement to his boundless enthusiasm, making him the candidate worthy of your vote.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
