Gregory McNeill, a sophomore political science and religious studies major, is running for president. Maco Stewart, a junior political science major, is running for vice president.
Q: There are at last count 10 tickets running for ASUO Executive, which is more than in past years. What do you think will set yourselves apart from the other candidates?
A: Issues. We have them and they don’t. If you look at our posters, we cover several issues like better parking, more football tickets, student activities — and everybody else just says their name and vote for them.
Q: What is your platform?
A: We would like to give ASUO back to students. Right now it seems like no one does anything for the student body as a whole. We all pay $500 in fees, and … we get things that save lives and protect students, like the Designated Driver Shuttle and Project Saferide. But we want to bring it back to a time in the past when ASUO did things that really improved things that affect the students, like the EMU courtyard.

Q: What would you advocate for on the state level for students, and how will you carry out your plans?
A: Funding going up, for one thing. We would advocate things more oriented toward things we do on campus. It seems like every year we come up with these big, huge plans and nothing ever gets realized from it. We need to take it down to a more local level.
That’s not to say we won’t advocate statewide, but we want to be more local. I think tuition is a big issue we would try to address.
Q: What specific campus-oriented initiatives will you champion?
A: Parking is a big issue. With Sacred Heart Medical Center potentially moving, we’re talking about trying to get some of their parking structures. Also, with regard to student activities, schools of comparable size to the University have homecoming celebrations, and we designate a game as homecoming, but we really don’t do anything else. So we’re talking about having a parade and a homecoming queen and a dance and speakers.
There are clear places where funding could be better allocated, like in football tickets. There are so few, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that we’d buy a few more seats for the students.
Q: How would you define diversity? And how do you plan to bring together the diverse voices on campus ?
A: My definition of diversity is, everyone is diverse in their own way. No two people are alike, so I think everyone’s diverse. It seems like in the past it has just come down to funding with various minority groups, but we would like to see them take a bigger role in expressing their culture and their diversity to the general student body.
It seems like they have some things like that now that aren’t that well publicized or attended. We could be putting a big emphasis on the whole campus and shared culture. It doesn’t seem like the ASUO really responds to students. We would definitely do that. We support diversity pretty well.
Q: If two student groups were at odds with each other, how would you resolve the conflict?
A: You would have to mediate. All you can really do is take both arguments into account and count them as much as possible, and if nothing happens, make a decision. We want them to resolve it themselves so there won’t be any bitter feelings later on.
We want both groups to go away happy, but we’re not going to act in favoritism to any group. We’re going to weigh all the evidence and merits to their arguments and compromise as much as possible.
Q: If there was one thing you could change about the University instantly, what would it be?
A: It seems like the University is run by ASUO, but it is centered toward one ideology, and we need to get all voices and opinions and representation out there. … There is a lot of emphasis on behind-the-scenes dealings, but it seems like it’s ASUO and a select few, and the other students don’t get the benefit of that. A lot of other students just get ignored. … A lot of people don’t even know what ASUO does.
Q: How would you do things differently than the current ASUO Executive?
A: I would have a higher profile and do more things that affect students on a daily or weekly level and let them know that we’re out there and working for them. We’re using $8.5 million, and I realize a lot of that’s tied up in programs we’re already doing, and I think that we should be able to make a pretty big impact.
I want to be on a more personal level with the student body as a whole. I met (ASUO President and Vice President) Nilda (Brooklyn) and Joy (Nair) last year during their election and I haven’t seen them since. That would be an integral part of our administration, to have openness and be as available as possible to our student body. They’re really the bosses.