Evan Lally
Age: 21
Major: Undeclared
Hometown: Eugene, Oregon
Year: Junior
Emerald: Summarize your platform
Lally: I wouldn’t say that I have much of a formal platform just because like many students on campus I’m not terribly familiar with issues specifically around the EMU. What I would say instead is that I’m sort of the Joe Average of the student population, you know, a bit of a slacker, grades are decent and average and the rest of that and you know just familiar with the school. So I think being an average student that I could represent the views of the average student on the EMU Board.
Emerald: Whats qualifies you for this position?
Lally: Well I did have a term on student government at my high school, not that that really counts for anything, but otherwise general awareness of politics of bureaucracy and the rest of that. I like to think I’m halfway intelligent. Hopefully I’ll be able to get it done.
Emerald: Why do you want this position?
Lally: Good question. I don’t have a good answer for that.
Emerald: What’s the best way to ensure accountability for student leaders?
Lally: I would have to say that self policing really seems to be the best method. Members of the student government just need to be aware of expenses the, importance of those expenses, you know, how it helps the student body as a whole. With the retreat, with the expense, it’s sort of hard to justify relative to the benefit to the student body, so being aware of that would be helpful.
Emerald: How feasible is the five-year EMU Master Plan? How would you facilitate it?
Lally: Well, five-year plans generally suffer from problems of lack of flexibility. Especially with the EMU Board where you have members rotating every two years, when someone comes to the board with new ideas and the will to press for them, what happens when you’re in the middle of a five-year plan?
Emerald: And how would you facilitate it?
Lally: Well, I guess, seeing as I have no thoughts on the five-year plan and the fact that I think they tend to be rather inflexible, I’d tend to say that really I’d go for a more flexible approach.
Emerald: What would your recommendation be instead of a five-year plan?
Lally: Item-based votes, general directives rather than five-year plans.
Emerald: Can you elaborate on these recommendations? Do you have any specific recommendations?
Lally: Again, not having any figures on what specifically is happening within the EMU regarding student use, you know, what students prefer, I can’t make any specific recommendations on how to improve the usefulness of the EMU to the student population. But I figure as I become more aware of it, as my fellow candidates become more aware of the EMU situation, naturally we’ll develop ideas on how to increase it’s usefulness. Really beyond just trying to increase the responsiveness of the EMU Board to the day-to-day pressures of the EMU.