Anyone strolling about campus knows that student politics are in full swing. For two weeks, the U will be a rainbow of candidates’ faces and their corresponding colors — the most memorable thing about each party.
If you attend any of the four debates leading up to the Associated Students of the University of Utah elections, you will hear such weighty issues as student fee increases and class gift ideas being discussed — things that 90 percent of students couldn’t care less about. The general consensus is that the most important aspect of student government is how great it looks on the participants’ rsums.
Politics is not the only thing this year’s candidates are learning about. Actually, I should rephrase that — politics is a broad discipline, with marketing encompassing seven-eighths of the syllabus.
The four parties — red, orange, green and yellow — are in the midst of a crash-course, on-the-job-training case study in the world of relations, advertising, public relations and color schemes. It’s what the pros like to call IMC — integrated marketing communications.
So, regardless of their insignificance — other than that $1.35-million budget, of course — cockamamie ideas or general obnoxiousness (I kid because I know they can take it), those running for student government at least know how to get the most education out of their buck.
As on the national level, the party that succeeds in IMC succeeds in getting elected. Of course, ASUU doesn’t quite match the national parties’ ability to reach the people. While the federal parties use every form of media they can think of to get their message to the constituents, campus government primarily uses posters and free hot dogs.
There is only one party that addresses any kind of issue in its marketing — the More 4 U Party (team orange). Accompanying its candidates’ pictures on the campaign posters are the goals it hopes to achieve.
While some of the party’s ideas are crazy — such as building a parking lot underneath Presidents’ Circle — at least it shares its ideas with the student body.
The best idea that More 4 U presidential hopeful Joe Coccimiglio (pronounced “Coach Emilio,” like the guy from the “Mighty Ducks”) and running mate Craig Hammond have is to build bus/shuttle shelters for those waiting for public transportation — something that would serve the U population better than a marquee. They even mentioned working with the architecture school to help with the design.
While we may remember the green party for their edgy, graffiti-like advertising and the red party because it’s the color of the football team, only the orange party can be remembered for actually addressing some issues.
