Student Association elections are next week, and with three E-board and four SUNY SA delegate positions up for grabs, many consider the frontrunners to be Elevation '05, a party made up of incumbent SA officials.
As in the past few elections, some of the student body feels that an Elevation '05 victory would be part of a continuing trend - current SA administrations handing their legacy to handpicked candidates in a form of favoritism.
SA officials acknowledge such a trend but don't see it as nepotism. There are several factors, they said, that make it hard for non-SA members to break into the bureaucracy, including prior experience and general voter apathy.
"Elections are open to everybody, but the president usually has a vision of where he wants the organization to go in the future," said SA Vice President Dela Yador, who is running for SA president. "For example, Anthony (Burgio, current SA president) approached me last semester, asked me about my plans for next year, and suggested that I run for president."
SA Treasurer Jessica Dangler agreed and said leadership in SA plays a vital role.
"There has been a recent trend, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Whoever stands out as the biggest leaders in SA tend to group together and get the leadership positions," Dangler said. "It really does have to do with leadership within SA."
Many, however, believe the leadership factor is diminished by two other elephants sitting in the room unmentioned. One is the support from clubs for incumbent SA members, and the second is the "legacy," the handing of jobs to peers and friends who support the party.
Question of ethics
Francisco Baiocchi, a candidate for SUNY SA delegate on the Reform Our Campus ticket, told The Spectrum on Thursday he plans to drop out of this year's race. Baiocchi said he's leaving the race because he is disillusioned by what he perceives to be unethical bribes from two SA officials who promised him high-level positions next year if he dropped and turned on fellow party member Matthew Pelkey.
Baiocchi alleged that SA Senate Chair Mazin Kased, who is running for treasurer with Elevation '05, and SA President Anthony Burgio approached him about dropping from the race to denounce Pelkey.
Baiocchi audio taped one conversation between himself and Kased on Thursday in which Kased offered him almost any SA position he wanted, including FSA president or student affairs director, if he resigned to help Elevation '05 keep Pelkey from winning.
According to Kased, what he said on the tape is out of context and Baiocchi misunderstood him. Kased said Baiocchi approached him for advice, and he was only trying to help an upset Baiocchi consider other options.
"I'm disappointed because he approached me as a friend and not as an enemy," Kased said.
On the tape, Kased told Baiocchi SA history shows it was "impossible" for Baiocchi to win.
"I guarantee you 100 percent," Kased said on the tape when asked if he could assure Baiocchi an SA job. "I got your back. And if you support us, Francisco, I guarantee this."
SA President Anthony Burgio said his meeting with Baiocchi was more benign than the candidate suggested.
"I really was trying to do a favor for a friend," Burgio said, noting that Baiocchi fared poorly in the election endorsements, only getting two of six.
Baiocchi saw the meetings differently.
"I was really offended by that," Baiocchi said. "I can't be bought."
Burgio said he doesn't think the buying of candidates or positions is something that happens in SA.
"Nothing has ever been handed to me, and I have always worked hard to get every vote I every got," he said.
Burgio said he also doesn't buy into the shady perception of SA elections.
"I've heard the terms 'legacy' and 'dynasty' when people talk about SA, but nothing's been handed down. I couldn't hand this position down even if I wanted to," Burgio said. "There is a lot of continuity, but what it comes down to is that SA is now a $2.7 million entity. Many people are reluctant to elect someone who doesn't have experience controlling that large amount of money, the fests, the services, and everything else. It's natural that you're going to see people with experience both running for and getting these positions."
Duncan Stanley, secretary of the College Republicans, said there seems to be an unofficial SA-sponsored party in each election.
"There's obviously a legacy. The students who are very involved in SA and run for office usually get elected," Stanley said. "It's very easy for that to happen, because SA is a fairly tight-knit group. Not only do the people in that office work together, but they often socialize together."
The club factor
According to Stanley, another advantage incumbent candidates have is the support of the nearly 3,000 club members, especially when only about 3,000 students vote.
"When you have candidates that are involved in SA run in these elections, other SA people will bolster the campaign," Stanley said. "They also have an advantage because they can offer incentives to clubs for voting, such as increasing their budget or pushing legislation through the SA senate or assembly. If you can get large clubs behind you, such as the Indian SA, which has somewhere around 800 members, you definitely have a huge advantage over anyone else."
According to SA officials and other club members, this trend isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"People like the consistency and quality of the work that SA has been doing. That's why these people are getting elected," said Yador, who has worked exclusively with clubs as vice president. "They know us and they have experience with us, so it's almost a sense of comfort when someone that you've worked well with is voted into an E-board position."
Melissa Guarriello, a sophomore social sciences major who is not in a club, said a candidate's visibility is indicative of the quality of their work.
"There's definitely an SA legacy," Guarriello said. "The SA people get voted in because they're already visible on campus and they've made themselves available to the students. They must be doing something right, though, otherwise students wouldn't vote for them."
Voter apathy
While some are concerned with supposed nepotism, others said the bigger problem is that only one-sixth of undergraduates vote.
"There does seem to be a running theme because the incumbent party tends to take over the SA E-board, but it's the student's ultimate responsibility for who runs for and wins the E-board positions," said Matthew Schwartz, a junior communication major and secretary of Pagan SA. "If other students aren't going to run for these positions, you are going to see the same people. Don't complain if you're not going to get involved or do anything to change SA."
In Yador's opinion, apathy is at the heart of the issue.
"The most disturbing part is that people are paying for these services and go to our events, but they're not being vocal about what they want done," Yador said. "It really bothers me that students don't get out there and vote."
Dangler said many efforts to campaign often get ignored by students.
"I remember last year, trying to stop people in the Union and get them to vote, and they thought I was soliciting them," Dangler said. "They would just give me a dirty look and walk away. People just don't realize, or even care, that their vote is important."
Some students like Lauren Hammond, a freshman nursing major, said they will vote in the election, but remain largely uninformed.
"I'll probably vote, but I don't really know who the candidates are," Hammond said. "I normally vote for the people who hand me something right before I head into the booth. That's what I did last time, for the mandatory student activity fee referendum."
"I usually vote for whomever they say is not going to cut funding," said David Brass, a senior English major and club member. "The biggest problem, by far, is that students are uninformed and apathetic when it comes to elections. I didn't even know elections were coming up. The people who are going out to vote, though, are the ones who want to keep the status quo."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
