OUR VIEW: Ben Williams for ASUSU President

It is a long-standing tradition in American politics for newspaper editorial boards to endorse candidates for public office. At The Statesman, we have a unique opportunity to meet face to face with all candidates, and with this comes the responsibility to pass information on to the voting population of USU, most of whom are not awarded the same intimate opportunity.

    With this goal in mind, the editorial board of The Utah Statesman interviewed the candidates for ASUSU President – Erik Mikkelson, Keenan Nuehring and Ben Williams – individually on Tuesday night on topics including the proper role of president, programming for a student body of 17,000 individuals, accountability and transparency in office and much more.

    In our opinion, the student body is in good hands regardless of which candidate is named winner at the end of the week. These three candidates are truly some of USU’s finest and deciding between them required much deliberation. In no way do we expect our endorsement to take the place of individual choice, we merely hope to achieve increased discussion on the issues at hand.

    So, after considerable debate we, the editors of The Utah Statesman, endorse Ben Williams for ASUSU President.

    Williams understands that it is not the responsibility of the president alone to shoulder the burdens of ASUSU. He talked about delegation of tasks and holding individual members of the Executive council accountable for their specific job descriptions. At the same time, he understands the necessity of being involved alongside his vice presidents in addressing and seeking out the concerns of the student body, programming diverse activities for a broad population of student interests, and in reaching beyond the comfort zone of those who are “in.”

    Williams understands that with 17,000 students, one single event cannot please all. He talked candidly about increasing the variety among ASUSU-sponsored events in lieu of focusing on making the big three – Howl, Mardis Gras and End of Year – perpetually “bigger and better.”

    He would be the first person to tell you that he doesn’t have all the answers, and in that awareness he has shown a desire to seek out the best alternatives and above all, take the necessary risks. In his campaign he has focused a lot on transparency and we believe him when he says he will not conduct his business behind closed doors and will own up to problems that occur.

    All three candidates shared many of these goals, and above all we encourage each and every student to educate themselves on the individual platforms and vote.