Editor:
A while ago, the Editorial Board of The Daily Utah Chronicle discussed what happened with the Innovation Party, candidates for student government positions, and their violation of election policies. I think that the issue deserves a lot more attention.
The race for offices in the Associated Students of the University of Utah is less than a few weeks old and already one of the candidates chosen to ?pee in the pool.? If it were my child who ?peed in the pool,? I would punish him severely to teach him it was wrong. In contrast, the ASUU election committee felt ?peeing in the pool? was a minor offense.
Maybe we will have to wait until the pool is completely yellow before a real punishment is handed down.
Where some parents would at least give the child a spanking, the committee gave the Innovation Party a gift. Their present was a $17 fine for showing no regard for the election policy.
The Innovation Party members knew they were breaking the rules. They knew it when they were handing out their handbills to classrooms. They knew the rules clearly stated that their actions were in violation of the election rules. And they knew they didn?t care, because they did it anyway.
The party read the same candidate-information packet as the other candidates who are running for office. They saw the same rules and still thought they didn?t apply to them. It leaves me to wonder, who does that?
When I looked at the information packet, mine had a section that clearly stated a disturbance of any classroom in any way was wrong. Also, the passing of handbills right now is another violation.
What message does this send to the other candidates who are running for office? ?For a meager fee of $17, you can spit on the rules and do whatever you want!??
The only reason they didn?t complain while paying the fine was because it was a small price to pay for that extra jump on the competition.
How could they complain about their punishment? I have gotten harsher punishments for doing a rolling stop at a stop sign or having a tail-light out on my car.
A lot can be learned from this obvious disregard for the rules.
For the sake of the student body, I hope the other parties? contain much more character than does the Innovation Party. I don?t think it will take much to surpass them in that category, though.
Ben Lopez
Junior, Communications