Elections started at midnight and Ed Board wants to first encourage every student on this campus to vote. It may not seem like a big deal to most people, but participation in a democracy is the cornerstone of our society and Ed Board believes it is a responsibility students shouldn’t take lightly.

That said, Ed Board would like to make the following endorsements for the general elections.

For president, Ed Board is supporting Liz Healy. It’s not like we have a choice anyway. Seriously though, Ed Board believes Healy is a more than qualified candidate to be elected student body president. She’s done her best to get the senators to take a more active role, but it hasn’t worked. If it wasn’t for Healy’s efforts Ed Board believes the senator situation would be worse.

Picking a vice president was a trickier task for Ed Board. But, after much consideration, our endorsement goes to Taylor Russ. Honestly, we weren’t all that impressed with either candidate, but we came to the conclusion that Russ was more approachable and has better social skills than his opponent, Rafael Alvarez.

Ed Board does fault Russ for believing that special interest seats should be long-term and for using the played out parking issue, but for the experience Alvarez has as a senator, Ed Board doesn’t feel like it adds up to very much.

Russ may only be the finance chair, but he seems to know a little more about Senate’s workings than his opponent.

In yesterday’s Senate meeting, a member of Ed Board witnessed both Alvarez and Russ’ behavior and wasn’t impressed with either to begin with.

Russ was uploading songs onto his iTunes, while Alvarez was talking and failed to pick up his Senate documents until 4:11 p.m. The Senate meeting began at 3:34 p.m. Alvarez also walked in and out of the meeting at will.

Russ rebounded by playing a crucial role in later debating, but both candidates, regardless of who is elected, need to pay more attention in the Senate meetings. It’s a job, not an after school activity.

Ed Board is impressed with secretary candidate Drew Washington. He’s active in a variety of organizations on campus and he’s not one of the senators that need a swift kick in the rear. He’s proactive and that’s something Ed Board respects.

Finally, Ed Board would like to endorse a “yes” vote on the Student Body Constitutional amendment regarding special interest seats after Senate’s altering of the by-law yesterday. The amendment to the Senate by-law makes it tougher for the wrong person to end up in a special interest seats.

Good luck to all the candidates and to all the students: get out and vote!