ACS candidates unqualified

The Chronicle was enthusiastic about Hirsh Sandesara’s candidacy for Duke Student Government Vice President of Athletics and Campus Services. He was intelligent, well spoken and, even as a DSG outsider, had a good understanding of both the boundaries and the requirements of the job. Sandesara, however, decided to drop out of the race Sunday.

The remaining candidates, sophomore Ryan Strasser and junior Brenda Bautsch, both have experience as DSG Senators but neither is qualified for the position.

Strasser is extremely ambitious—a valuable quality in a vice president, but he is often ambitious to the point of it being a detrimental. His ambition cannot be matched by tangible results or by University finances. Strasser’s platform projects require significant amounts of money, making them infeasible, and Strasser should not waste time on chasing impossible goals.

Although Bautsch should be commended for her spirit, we do not have confidence in her ability to run a committee and get things done. She also showed a lack of creativity in her ideas and did not seem to be aware of what DSG has done in the past outside of her subcommittee.

A perennial concern that falls under Athletics and Campus Services, campus safety will forever be a campaign issue. Both Stasser and Bautsch repeated the traditional safety answers—committees, police guidelines, blue light phones, etc.—but Sandesara spoke about promoting a culture of safety. He understood the importance of introducing behavior changes, especially in respect to preventing sexual assault, as a way of creating a safer campus. Neither Strasser nor Bautsch had this thorough of an understanding of the issue, or the full range of responsibilities for the position.

The Chronicle does not endorse in the race for VP of Athletic and Campus Services.