[img id=”77614″ align=”alignleft”] After 15 years of unsuccessful attempts to come out on top in SG elections, the Moose Party is trying a new tactic this year: seriousness.
Though their primary aim is still to bring levity to SG elections, this year’s annual Delta Upsilon slate said they are taking things in a new direction.
“SG could be a really cool thing. It could take its place as being as important as it should be and being able to make a difference,” said second-year Charlie Hughes, the slate’s candidate for vice president of student life. But Hughes said that general apathy and lack of awareness have prevented SG from being effective.
“I just want to say, I don’t think it would be the worst thing in the world if three guys who have not participated in SG were elected,” said presidential candidate and third-year Anindya Kundu. “If it comes down to it, we’re not jokes ourselves.”
Most of the slate’s platform is still geared at “trying to increase funness for everyone,” Kundu said.
One proposition is to expand the Flex points system beyond campus.
“If the Shoreland is no longer a dorm, have it be a casino where students can gamble their Flex points. Some people are going to lose, but some people will win big,” vice president for administration candidate and second-year Dan Kimeldorf said.
Their proposal for a “Hipster Cave,” in which students could watch soundless films and enjoy smoking and skinny jeans, is another way the slate hopes to improve student life. “You always go outside Cobb and see the unfortunate hipsters smoking out in the cold, and it’s heart wrenching,” Kundu said. “You want to see them be able to smoke and do their hipster thing, but not out in the cold where they can get frostbite.”
While the slate says the Cave will be open for all students, they’re also open to creating cave and tunnel spaces for other groups on campus.
The platform also includes proposals for a quarterly petting zoo, a social skills sequence in the Core, and reprogramming the robotic arm in the Mansueto Library to complete homework instead of retrieving volumes.
While he acknowledged that some of their ideas might be perceived as “silly” or “hard to accomplish,” Kimeldorf said the other slates don’t necessarily have more substance than the Moose Party.
“They kind of want something for their résumé; it’s something they’ve been doing in the past. How much of their intention is really to improve student life on campus? I don’t think they really have that interest more than we do,” he said.
If victorious, it’s not clear how much of the party’s original platform would remain in place.
“We’d obviously have to talk it over and change the whole idea of the Moose Party. If we did want to hold office, it couldn’t be a joke anymore,” Kimeldorf said.
“If we win, we’re going to go up to our roof, stargaze with lawn chairs, and have a serious conversation amongst the three of us,” said Kundu.
