The Stony Brook Press - March 19, 2007 - Elections Guide

Inside the Elections Guide

Senate Candidate Interviews Page 3

Executive Council Candidate Interviews Page 8

Endorsements Page 10

Opinion Page 10

USG Debates Photospread Page 11

Listen to our interviews The following six pages

with the presidential can- contain interviews with
didates on our Podcast! many of the candidates.
We asked them each the
four questions listed bel-
low.

1) Have you ever been involved in USG

before? If yes, then in what capacity? If no,
what qualifications do you have that make
you think you would make a good USG offi-
cial?
http://www.thestonybrookpress.com
2) Why are you running for this position?

Contributors:
Adina Silverbush Rebecca Kleinhaut 3) How do you feel about student apathy?
Alex Nagler Jowy Romano
4) What changes do you plan on imple-
Bryan Hasho Stephanie Hayes
menting if elected?
Jamie Friermuth Vincent Michael Festa
www.thestonybrookpress.com
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Senate Candidate Interviews
Brian Bader
CAS Senator
Independent
1) Brian has yet to serve in the USG.
2) He is running for this position
because he’s “sick of complaining and
sick of hearing people complain about
the apathy, inefficiency, and anti-social
trends of this campus.” He says he can’t
sit around waiting for change to happen;
someone needs to make it happen and he
will try to do things in the student’s best
interests, because that’s what he feels
matters most. He asserts that he is not
running for publicity or for something
nice to put on a resume. He says he
wants to work with the rest of the senate
and hopefully make the upcoming
semester effective for the USG Senate.
3) Brian feels that student apathy is a
real problem. While he was petitioning
for this position, he had to obtain 100
signatures to get on the ballot. He says
he had to explain to at least half of the
people asked to sign his petition what
USG is and what he was running for.
According to Brian, this shouldn’t be
Eric Connor CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Eric has served as a USG Senator for the
past semester.
2) Eric believes that his experience in the
the case. And it’s not just with USG, but
with everything on this campus. “We
have so many activities that go on that
many students just don’t know about,
myself included. This goes to show
that’s it’s not entirely the fact that the
students don’t care. It’s that they just
don’t know about things on this campus.
Although it may not be the official job
of the senate, I want to try to inform
more students and find a more effective
way of informing students of what is
happening on campus,” he said.
4) Brian plans on getting more concerts
on campus, and also more student
friendly events in general. Another big
issue Brian mentioned that has been
going on lately is the general distaste for
the current meal plan. If elected, he will
do everything in his power to lower food
prices to a reasonable price so that stu-
dents don’t have to worry about running
out of meal points a few weeks before
the end of the semester. He will also
introduce the idea of having laundry
included in our tuition. His laundry
money comes out of his pocket and he’s
sure it does for other students. It would
be nice to not have to worry about this
expense, he says. He asserts that com-
muter students also need a solution to
some of their problems, such as the lack
of parking, the long wait at the SAC for
a bus to South P, and crowded lines at
the SAC midday. They make up almost
half, if not more than half the population
of the undergraduate class, and he will
try to get their needs met. Brian’s main
goal is to increase student awareness on
campus and get their needs met, because
that is why he is running.
Senate was invaluable, and that next year
he will be able to take what he has learned
and turn it into real progress. He hopes to
carry on the traditions of his fellow
Senators and add to the success of many of
their programs. “The Senate is like a fami-
ly.”
3) Eric believes that the past semester has
let many students know that the Senate is
working hard. He praises the legislation
that has been passed last semester, espe-
cially Senator Antonelli’s ALIRRT pro-
gram. He believes that next year, the
Senate will be “on the road” to success.
“We’re going to make it happen.”
4) Eric believes that he will be able to
improve student life in “every way possi-
ble.” He finds Senator Antonelli to be “an
inspiration,” and hopes to be able to follow
in his footsteps next year.
www.thestonybrookpress.com
Ketty Dautruche CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
Brian Desrosiers CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Brian has not held a position in Stony
Brook’s USG before, but he feels that his
leadership skills were honed as he served
as Senior Class President in high school.
He is currently a part of the African
Stephen Elardo CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Steve has never been involved in USG
Elections Guide - March 19, 2007 - The Stony Brook Press
1) Currently Ketty is serving as a sena-
tor and is on the legislative, environ-
ment, and rules committees.
2) She’s running for re-election because
serving as a senator this year was a
great experience for her. She learned a
lot about laws and administration and
feels there is a lot she can do for the stu-
dents.
3) She believes apathy would decrease
through increased awareness to the fact
that USG is the cause of successful pro-
grams like ALIRRT and PASS.
4) Ketty will continue to fight against
the smoking ban and wants to make a
new, more accurate bus schedule.
Student Union, the Student Activities
Board, and the Caribbean Student
Organization.
2) Brian is running for the Senate because
he would like to take a more active politi-
cal role in the university. He is “interested
in how the student government is run”.
3) “At first, I had misconceptions about
what the Senate did,” said Brian. After
doing some research, he found that the
Senate was something that he wanted to
become more involved in. He hopes that
he can use his position as Senator to pass
the knowledge to the student body that it is
worth it to become involved on campus.
4) Brian hopes to effectively represent the
College of Arts and Sciences. However, he
recognizes that the Senate works as one
body and not just a group of individuals
looking out for their own issues.
“Hopefully those who are elected from my
party will help me out with that,” he said.
before, but thinks that will be an asset
rather than a hindrance. He is hoping to
come into USG as a fresh mind, and thinks
this will help him as a senator.
2) Steve is running for senator because
he’s “sick and tired of what’s wrong with
this campus.” He’s an average student that
is tired of the high food and the lack of
events, but wants to do something about it.
“I think this position would give me the
best opportunity to fix as much as I can,”
he said.
3) “Student Apathy is definitely a problem
at Stony Brook,” he said. “But I think that
stems from a lack of information as expo-
sure. I think the average student here does-
Continued on next page
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The Stony Brook Press - March 19, 2007 - Elections Guide
Senate Candidate Interviews
Elardo Continued from previous page
n't know a thing about USG, SAB and the
like, and that is at the heart of the prob-
lem.” He feels that if the USG starts mak-
ing changes and getting things done in a
public way, then the students will start car-
ing.
4) “First and foremost on my agenda and
on SUCCESS's agenda have to be the lack
of events and the high food prices. Every
candidate will tell you the same thing, but
I really believe that SUCCESS can get it
done,” he said. Steve feels that if Joe
Kyle Grogan CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Kyle has never held a senate posi-
tion, but has attended the meetings. He
is also a member of the EFA. He tells
us he has a good working knowledge of
USG, and the roll of treasurer he held at
the EFA facilitated his involvement in
USG.
Leo Kamenetskiy CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Leo has no previous experience as a
member of the USG, but he is not com-
pletely new to campus involvement.
Leo was involved in the Telefund
Program, and has aided in last year’s $1
4
Antonelli becomes president, he will have
the full support of the senate, giving them
the ability to push through the things we
want to accomplish. “Romual is a lame
duck, no one supports him or anything he
is trying to do,” he said. Some of the other
things he wants to see happen are improve-
ments to the campus bus schedule, which
he feels is ridiculous right now. “I would
work with SAB and hopefully Campus
Residences to get more advertising for
SAB activities. They have a lot of fun stuff
going on that no one knows about because
the advertising is so poor,” he said.
2) Kyle says he has been friends with
Joe and Nathan for a while, who pushed
him to run for Senate. He’s gone to
most of the meetings, and is tired of
student apathy.
3) “Apathy for USG is very low and it’s
not that difficult to get signatures due to
the fact people sign things out of bore-
dom,” said Kyle. “Getting people to
know that USG is a good thing. ALIR-
RT is a good program as it increases
awareness of USG.”
4) He wants to try to increase funding
for ALIRRT through budgetary roles,
and try to have more programs that bet-
ter benefit the students directly through
the inner workings of USG. “We have
the money; we should try to give it back
to the students through beneficial pro-
grams. The off campus meal plan (cam-
pus cash) is not good enough,” he said.
He would try to find a way to use meal
plan points off campus.
million raising of student scholarships.
2) Leo has stated that his main motive
for running for a senate position is to
combat the lack of student awareness of
campus events. He feels that students
should have a better way to find out
what’s going on. “We know what’s
going on at Bamboo Bernies but not at
school,” he said.
3) In regards to student apathy, Leo
believes students should most certainly
care. “I mean, you should care. It does
affect you—it’s your money.”
4) As for his plans as a senator, Leo
plans on relentlessly spreading the word
on campus events. “I’m definitely plan-
ning on keeping the students well
informed—pass out flyers.” He also
believes students need to be notified
more effectively when it comes to snow
days in terms of cancellations and the
like.
www.thestonybrookpress.com
John Kriscenski
CAS Senator
Independent
1) John is freshman, so this is the first time he
can run. He feels that a good work ethic is
important in any person who’s going to repre-
sent the student body. “I’ve been involved in
student governments since the 8th grade. In
high school, I was in charge of a half-a-mil-
lion-dollar budget, so I look forwards to apply-
ing my skills to help Stony Brook,” he said.
2) Saving money is a crucial factor to why
Thomas Lombardo
CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Currently Thomas is a USG senator serv-
ing on the budget and legislative committees.
Alexander Markow CAS Senator
Reform Party
1) He has not served in USG in any official
capacity, however he has served as a proxy on
the USG Senate seven or eight times this year.
He is also a senatorial (unpaid) aide; he helps
out around the office and has input in legisla-
tive matters. He is also involved with several
other organizations on campus. Alexander
participates in Animated Perspectives, the
Rifle Club, the Enduring Freedom Alliance,
the SBU Archers Society, as well as the occa-
John is running. “I feel that the 200 dollars
we all pay to the student activity fund is a cru-
cial part of our undergraduate life and as the
Senate has already passed PASS and ALIR-
RT, I feel we can pass more legislation to use
this in more efficient ways. Of course, the
meal plan is also a major part of why I’m run-
ning, as I feel there are more options that can
be explored.”
3) John feels that student apathy is a concept
that plagues every school. “One of the only
ways we can improve apathy is if the student
government increases involvement to fight
apathy. People aren’t going to care about a
government that doesn’t do anything for
them, so if we fight harder for the students,
we can make it so that more people care about
the school.”
4) John would like to expand the PASS Act
and the ALIRRT Program, mainly so that the
latter does not sell out so quickly. “I’d like to
also create more programs to save students
money and look into the possibility of a food
co-op. “I think the money that the students are
putting into the student activity fund should
be used directly by them.”
2) When he took his position as senator, USG
was divided. Now that they are all one big
happy family he feels improvements can
finally be made. As senator, he wants to push
for free STD testing sites on campus.
3) It bothers him that in a school of 20,000
only 200 vote. Students, according to
Lombardo, should realize that “USG controls
everything.” He says students should talk to
USG if they want change and if they want
events on campus that they will enjoy. He
says that the senate is open minded and will
listen to students.
4) Lombardo hopes that next year USG will
put their party affiliations aside and work to
benefit students; parties to him are just a dis-
traction. However, he’s a member of a party
because he feels this is a stepping stone to
becoming a USG Vice President in the future.
sional visit to the Greeley College LEG. He is
also the Secretary of the SBU CRS, the Vice
Chairman of the Reform Party, and the Staff
Photographer for The Patriot.
2) Alexander is running for this position
because he believes that there are many things
to be discussed and dealt with, in terms of the
interior and exterior functionality and appear-
ance of the USG to the student body it repre-
sents. He thinks serving as a senator will be a
Continued on next page

Senate Candidate Interviews
Markow Continued from previous page
fun and exciting experience. He says,
“Unfortunately there is no glory in winning an
uncontested election, there is the honor in liv-
ing up to the expected (and respected) image
of a USG Senator.”
3) Alexander says student apathy on campus
is, unfortunately, a problem that exists, has
existed, and will continue to exist. However,
appealing to those students should be a pri-
mary goal for the 07-08 Senate. It is impera-
Chris Pitera CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Christopher has not held a position in the
USG before, but he feels that he has gained
relevant experience while interning at the
Executive Office of the President in the White
We were unable to get in touch with the following Senate candidates:
Adeel Anwer
CAS Senator
Steve Hauptman
CAS Senator
tive that there will be surveys and question-
naires (whether they be through blackboard or
otherwise) implemented by the Vice President
of Communications, to get tangible, statistical
evidence of what the students who aren't using
their share of the fee actually want.
4) As a Senator, Alexander says, “You have an
obligation to implement positive changes in
both the Senate and the USG. Your job is to
legislate, negotiate, and deliberate. Things
such as the online club budget applications
and constitutional reform are amongst the
chief concerns that can be actively dealt with
by the Senate. Also, the equitable distribution
of the student activity fee is also among my
chief concerns. Clubs, organizations, and
individuals need to get what they pay for.
There are a fair amount of students on campus
who do not choose to participate in any clubs
or events, and I believe that to promote both
fiscal responsibility and acquiesce to the large
number of apathetic fee-paying students, there
should be an incremental reduction in the stu-
dent activity fee. This will also help to bal-
ance the budget. The 300,000 dollar rollover,
and 62% of students who voted in the fall
election should be enough proof that action
should be taken.”
House. Christopher is currently a part of the
Enduring Freedom Alliance and is a staff
member of The Patriot.
2) Christopher is running for the Senate in
order to properly represent the College of
Arts and Sciences. He also believes that he is
“fiscally responsible” and that he will spend
the Student Activity Fee in ways that benefit
the students.
3) Christopher acknowledged that this semes-
ter, proper promotion of programs such as
ALIRRT and Tiki Barber’s lecture has helped
students realize that USG is there for the stu-
dents. If elected, Christopher would seek to
“let people know [that] USG is beneficial.”
4) If elected, Christopher would like to
become a familiar face on campus. “I would
like to question [students] on campus and
refer back to the Senate.” He would also like
to help the Senate to create “leverage” with
meal plan prices and the activation fee.
www.thestonybrookpress.com
Nirmala Ramsaran
CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Nirmala has spent her time partici-
pating on the Student Activities Board,
where she distributes flyers for forth-
coming campus events. She recently
joined LASO, and has also worked with
the SAO working with advisors to help
plan events on campus.
2) “I’m running because I feel like
Suhas Sreeharshan CAS Senator
SUCCESS Party
1) Suhas ran for Freshman Representative
last year, but didn’t receive enough votes
Richard St. Fleur
CAS Senator
Blake Wind
CAS Senator
Elections Guide - March 19, 2007 - The Stony Brook Press
women are poorly represented,” said
Nirmala. She feels that students are
unaware of activities on campus, and
wants to focus on the academic side of
the university. “Schools important, you
know,” she said.
3) Nirmala is disappointed with the
school’s response to the idea of student
apathy. “They haven’t tried anything—
no one’s reached out,” she said. She
speaks of the importance of reaching
out to new students. “Sometimes
they’re not aware of all the events avail-
able for their resume—they don’t real-
ize,” she said.
4) As for her focus as a senator, “obvi-
ously student involvement,” said
Nirmala. “I guess the publicity and
marketing of the events that are poorly
publicized.” She also has her sights on
the school’s food services. “Our con-
tract is over this summer. We can make
a resolution to change that—even lower
the food prices or change the contract
culture.”
to get the spot. He now participates in the
Environmental Club, the Martial Arts
Club, and frequents LEG meetings. Next
year, she’s going to be an RA—a testa-
ment to her responsible nature.
2) Suhas is running for a position on the
senate because he wants to see changes
happening at the school. “A lot of my
friends want to see some changes but
they’re too busy,” he said. He promises
to listen to people and their opinions.
3) In regards to student apathy, Suhas said
that, “Many people don’t know what
events are going on. Even if they put
posters on the wall, there’s so many of
them people ignore them.”
4) Suhas’ focus in the senate is to concen-
trate on listening to everyone’s opinions
and bringing them to the senate.
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The Stony Brook Press - March 19, 2007 - Elections Guide
Executive Council Candidate Interviews
Joseph Antonelli President
SUCCESS Party
1) Currently a Senator. Worked to pass the
ALIRRT Bill, rewriting of SAB Bylaws to
include veto power for Vice President of
Student Life on expenditures as well as
the measures to allow any USG
Represented club an automatic vote at
USG meetings.
2) Senator Antonelli is running to make a
difference. Originally, he planned to run
for treasurer, but people thanking him for
ALIRRT have made him realize that he
Romual Jean-Baptiste President
Independent
1) Romual is running as the incumbent presi-
dent of USG. During his previous term he
worked to implement the campus cash sys-
tem, and the online club registration system,
which allows clubs to schedule events without
having to go to the USG offices. He also
worked with Campus Residences to get the
YES Network on campus, as this was the will
of the students. Progress with FSA has been
made as campus dining hall hours have been
increased and many of the Union facilities will
be renovated over the summer, with one of the
more interesting offerings of next year being a
Caribbean themed eating facility.
2) President Jean-Baptise is running because
he knows how to get things done. Having
8
has made some difference and that he can
affect more change as President. He feels
that his confidence will serve as leverage
to let him get more things done.
3) Student apathy starts right off the bat
with campus tours by informing students
about the proximity of the LIRR to cam-
pus. By increasing the average student’s
awareness of USG, Senator Antonelli feels
students will realize there is more to do on
campus and that they have the power to
suggest events and bring them to fruition.
4) Senator Antonelli has many ideas for
things he could possibly implement. In
cooperation with NYPIRG, he feels that
the school could negotiate for a lower
price on LIRR tickets, therefore allowing
more to be sold. He also feels that the food
situation must be addressed, namely the
prices and the activation fee. He feels that
making other providers aware of Stony
Brook will allow for competitive bidding,
therefore allowing for the best opportuni-
ties for the school. He also feels that the
Campus Cash as an off-campus meal plan
must be reformed to allow for students to
use their cards off campus and for the food
to possibly be delivered.
been in USG for the past three years, he
knows who to go to in the administration to
get things done, and has gained their trust and
influence over them. He feels that he has the
connections needed to get more things done,
and that voting for anyone else would reset
these valuable connections and put the stu-
dents back at a hindrance that would take the
full presidential term to rebuild.
3) Romual feels that student apathy is very
unfortunate. He expressed that if students
actually took the time to be involved with the
student governments, residence hall LEGs, or
any other club, they could have a more ful-
filled overall college experience and apathy
would decrease, as students worked to make
the campus a better place.
4) President Jean-Baptise would like to con-
tinue to reform aspects of the Stony Brook
Undergraduate government and implement
further changes to help the student population
on the whole. One thing he discussed was
making laundry services free of charge for stu-
dents, claiming that we, as students, pay
enough for other services as it is. Also, he
would like to increase the recently implement-
ed campus cash program, roll meal points
over between terms, increase bus service, and
increase the number of weekend events. One
other possible change is the increase in num-
ber of off campus dining facilities, as this is in
an experimental stage, with the eventual roll to
be the inclusion of the actual meal plan onto it.
www.thestonybrookpress.com
Chinelo Onochie President
Independent
1) Chinelo has served as USG senator and
has been VP of Academic Affairs for the
past two years. She has been a major force
in overseeing the PASS program, game
Nathan Shapiro
Executive Vice President
SUCCESS Party
1) Nathan has been serving on the USG
Senate this past year. During the past
semester, Nathan drafted The Clarification
in Employment Act, which helped USG to
account for “fiscal responsibility.” He also
helped Senators Joseph Antonelli and
Jonathon Hirst to draft new bylaws for the
Student Activity Board, giving all clubs
and organizations to opportunity to cast a
vote in SAB. Nathan is also the President
of the Enduring Freedom Alliance.
2) As Executive Vice President, Nathan
Jonathan Hirst
Vice President of Student Life
SUCCESS Party
1) Jonathan has served as a USG senator
this year. He’s worked on redrafting the
SAB bylaws and helped support the ALIR-
RT program.
shows and the recent lectures on campus.
2) She has three year’s experience with
USG and wants to improve communica-
tion within. Chinelo asserts that students
need to come together and work together.
She has experience with administrators
and faculty, which has garnered a level of
their respect, which she feels this will real-
ly help her to get things done.
3) “Apathy is a result of not enough posi-
tive leadership in USG,” said Chinelo.
“USG needs to improve their reputation.
Students should know we’re a group of
students who want to do positive things for
their university.”
4) While she’s not making false promises
to students, she will try to lower food,
laundry, and book prices. Additionally,
she’d like to explore how good our profes-
sors are and help improve the campus bus
schedule.
will be responsible for running all of the
Senate meetings. Nathan would like to be
able to train senators and “provide leader-
ship” for the ones who are new to the
Senate. Having served on the Senate
before, Nathan is “well acquainted with the
rules” that they must abide by. He hopes
that his presence will keep the Senate “on
the same track.”
3) Nathan believes that USG needs to use
all media outlets on campus to let people
know more about the positive things that
they are doing. “What [students] know
about USG combines with outrage over the
meal plan. These two things come together
[to] raise attention regarding what USG can
accomplish.”
4) Nathan recognizes that USG can become
swamped in personal politics and concedes
that life in USG can sometimes feel like “a
soap opera.” However, Nathan believes
that the past year has truly shown him just
how effective the Senate can be. He credits
Senator Joseph Antonelli on “changing my
perspective on how to approach USG” with
proposals like the ALIRRT program.
“[Many Senators] came in with bright
ideas… I’m going to try to carry on this tra-
dition as Executive Vice President.”
2) He’s running for Vice President of
Student Life because he feels there are a
lot of issues that need to be addressed. He
wants to help reach out to all students with
Continued on next page
 Elections Guide - March 19, 2007 - The Stony Brook Press
Executive Council Candidate Interviews
so students are aware of what’s going on.

Leonard William Wright

Hirst Continued from previous page
more advertising in the quads. He hopes
place bulletin boards in all dorm buildings
and commuter lounges advertising events
Lynn-Marie Watson
Vice President of Student Life
He wants to work on having more peer
mentoring programs especially for transfer
students and hopes that students will be
able to receive internship credit for this.
As VP of Student Life, Hirst will oversee
the work of the SAB and work with them
to put on co-sponsored events.
3) Apathy would decrease, according to
Hirst, with a lot more advertising. He says
that no one should assume students are
aware of the events going on; USG really
needs to work harder to grab the attention
of students.
4) If elected, Hirst hopes to help make
USG a more unified group. With the new
bylaws, USG will be more involved in
SAB. He thinks that laundry prices need
to be reduced and the cheaper LIRR tickets
need to be more available.
unresolved in past years. She says that
commuter students are still unsatisfied
with the parking situation and have been
shown no plan to resolve this. Lynn is not
going to say she can lower meal prices,
because as a student she’s heard that
preached over and over again with no
Tr e a s u r e r
Independent
1) Leonard is currently the Treasurer of
the Undergraduate Student Activities
Board; the largest funded USG organiza-
tion on campus.
2) He originally wanted to run last year
for Treasurer, but had no experience with
USG or USG accounting. Instead, he
joined SAB for the experience, in order
to prepare himself for running for USG
Treasurer.
3) He thinks as a member of the student
body, as well as SAB. He has a very
open mind when it comes to the opinions
of his fellow peers, in these organizations
he feels you have to be in order to be suc-
cessful because at the end of the day you
are representing them.
4) His first goal would be to attack the
USG budget process and to make it as
simple and short as possible. As treasur-
er of SAB, he has a personal experience
with this process and it is rather tedious,
for absolutely no reason. He wants to
make it simpler, in order for every USG
club and organization to have a smooth
process when it comes to allocating for
USG Student Activity expenses. This
would be his primary goal as USG
Treasurer.

DON’T FORGET!
results. She does plan to use her power to
pressure FSA as hard as she can to make
some changes.
3) She thinks large number of her fellow
undergraduates have no interest in USG, or
have a perception that USG either does
nothing or is corrupt. She has seen no cor-
ruption in her days as a member of the

VOTE ON THE SOLAR

Independent USG. She feels students don’t know about
USG so they have no way to get involved,
1) Since Lynn transferred to the university until something goes wrong and they need
in Fall 2005, she has been a part of Student a voice. She hopes she will be this voice.

SYSTEM ANYTIME FROM

Activities Board. She helped in planning 4) She believes in working with Campus
and executing programs on campus during Residences so parking changes for com-
the Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer muters can be made by placing freshman

semesters.
2) She is running for the position of Vice
President of Student Life and
Programming, because although she has a
lot of experience with the programming
and event planning aspects, she feels a lot
of student life issues on this campus still
need to be tackled and many have been left
MARCH 19 - MARCH 23
and sophomores in certain quads. Since
they are not allowed to have cars on cam-
pus, this would free up resident hall park-
ing for commuter students. If elected, she
also plans to reach out to the students and
see what else is on there mind, aside from
high food prices, before she makes an open
ended promises that she can’t deliver.

We were unable to get in touch with the following Executive Council candidates:

Micheal Cohan Gabrielle Robergeau

Vice President of Acedemic Affairs Senior Class Representative
Clifford Pierre Juvanee A. Bedminster
Vice President of Communications Junior Class Representative
Jeffrey Akita
Vice President of Clubs and Organizations

www.thestonybrookpress.com
9
The Stony Brook Press - March 19, 2007 - Elections Guide
Vote for Chinelo Onochie and Nathan Shapiro
We came to the decision as an edito-
rial board that Chinelo Onochie was the
best candidate for USG President. Out
of all the candidates, she’s proven her-
self in her current position as Vice
President of Academic Affairs and has
been constantly praised by the USG
Senate as being both a competent and
meticulous Vice President. She’s been
working hard overseeing the PASS pro-
gram, and has helped organize the USG
lecture series. Chinelo is the only can-
didate who mentioned academics in her
Press interview, the reason we all are at
this University. She didn’t fill our
minds with unrealistic promises, but
instead gave us real hope that with the
relationships she’s built over the last
three years in USG, she now has the
respect of the administration and the
persistence to affect real change.
Chinelo attends many USG senate
meetings, even when she has nothing to
complain about. Unlike Romual who
only seems to be there when he has
something negative to say. In fact,
we’ve never seen Chinelo complain.
Insincere Banter and Unfulfilled Promises
By Bryan Hasho
___________
USG elections are pointless. I don’t
mean to suggest that the USG is a worth-
less endeavor, because it’s not—a student
government is a valuable and noble cam-
pus organization. And while I’ll log on to
SOLAR next week to support candidates
that promote worthwhile initiatives, I’ll do
so understanding that, even on the college
level, what comes out of a politician’s
mouth is absolute horseshit.
While this isn’t an all-inclusive state-
ment, history proves it true. Last year, the
students (with a little help--*wink wink*),
elected Romual Jean-Baptiste as the pres-
ident of the Executive Council, and what a
pick that was. Last year’s Press elections
guide reads, “He hopes to change the meal
plans—specifically the price of food—and
he thinks this could be done if students
pressure the Faculty Student Associations
more.” Obviously, the price of food has
not come down. And once again this year,
Romual has plenty to say about prospec-
tive changes.
“I think I’ve made significant progress
this year,” he said in his Press interview.
And hey! He wants to lower food prices;
surprise surprise. In one year students
have now been bestowed a potential off
10
Endorsements
Chinelo Onochie
President
She is not affiliated with any party, and
her bipartisan stance will help her bring
together a divided USG.
Joe Antonelli we feel is a solid candi-
Opinion
campus meal plan. Not only is that an
absolute joke as most students don’t have
the option to eat off campus during the
day, but it sure-as-fuck doesn’t have any-
thing to do with the food prices idea you
whipped-out for the crowd last year.
From there, he goes on to spew the rest of
the quintessential shit-students-care-about
list he has on his index cards.
Alongside Romual, Alexsandra
Borodkin and Robert Romano sit in their
senate positions after pushing the food
prices platform—way to go guys. Pretty
much everyone spoke about increasing
weekend activities last year, and pretty
much nobody did anything about it.
Ralph Thomas said he would “change
USG from within.” That went well. It’s
getting awfully frustrating that, including
this year, we hear the same proposals over
and over. When it comes to proposing
reform, your redundancy equates to
incompetence.
In 2004, the USG passed their first bill,
protecting student organizations financial-
ly and progressing the way clubs exist on
campus. That’s good work. It’s unfortu-
nate that the USG has deteriorated into a
smorgasbord of false promises and regur-
gitated ideas.
Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate this
year’s USG accomplishments. ALIRRT
www.thestonybrookpress.com
Nathan Shapiro
Executive Vice President
date, but with only one semester of
USG senate experience, we feel Chinelo
is better suited for the position.
Nathan Shapiro is running for
The three presidential candidates at the debates
was rather neat, and saved some folks
some money. Amy Wisnoski’s PASS bill
was a brilliant piece of legislation that has
helped lots of students. The SAC’s dining
hall is now open an hour later, that’s nifty.
Oh, and Romual contracted some aides.
But if you’re all going to run for senate
positions and push your platforms down
our throats, at least show us that you are
trying to do what you said you’d do.
The senate gets cranky every time
Executive Vice President unopposed,
but we’d still like to show our support
for him. He’s been one of the most out-
spoken senators this year and we feel
very confident in his ability to take on
more responsibility. We’ve gained
great respect for Nathan since he left
the Reform Party to pursue his own
ventures, and we strongly wish he had-
n’t signed on with SUCCESS. Either
way, we hope Nathan will continue to
serve in the best interests of the stu-
dents and continue to be an influential
USG leader.
Jonathan Hirst running for Vice
President of Student Life seems like an
adequate choice, but we never got a
chance to interview his opponent so we
can’t endorse him. We appreciate the
job he’s done in the senate this year,
working hard on ALIRRT and the SAB
bylaws. His ideas for expanding stu-
dent awareness of events on campus are
sound, and we hope that whoever gets
elected to this position actually gives us
some events to look forward to, since
they were sorely lacking again this year.
Vincent Michael Festa
they’re mocked for spending their entire
meeting on internal matters. And while
we’d love to give them the benefit of the
doubt that they are doing all their ‘real’
work conveniently behind closed doors,
we can only do so if you have something
to show for all that work. If not, tell us
you’re a good guy; tell us you’ll make the
USG meetings more entertaining. At least
then we’d have a genuine reason to place
our votes.
 Elections Guide - March 19, 2007 - The Stony Brook Press
Photos of the USG Debates

Photos by Vincent Michael Festa

www.thestonybrookpress.com
11
 Henry Kissinger Says:

“I was told there would be pancakes.”

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