The flag is up for the 2007 Undergraduate Government of Boston College campaign season as five teams filed papers Tuesday declaring their intent to run for president and vice president. Jenniffer Castillo, A&S '08, and Daniel Sievers, A&S '08; Conor O'Phelan, A&S '08, and Brian Borg, A&S '09; Bryan Connor, A&S '08; and Joe Feeney, A&S '08; Sean Scanion, A&S '08 and James Lepri A&S '08; and Todd Wackerman, A&S '08, and Wes Sackrule, A&S '08, have indicated that they will be the choices to replace year's UGBC president and vice president Santi Bunce, A&S '07, and Justin Nunez, A&S '07.
Though campaign rules prohibit candidates from holding interviews before the official start of the campaign, Josh Darr, UGBC elections committee chair and A&S '09, said he was excited about this year's field.
"I'm looking forward to an exciting campaign season," said Darr. "We have a stronger election committee than ever, so I'm hoping things go smoothly."
The candidates will be meeting the public for the first time and begin assembling their campaign teams at the Candidate Meet and Greet today at 7:30 p.m. in Higgins 310. After assembling a staff and completing their platform, the candidates will be allowed to begin campaigning at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 8.
Three debates are scheduled for this election season, two of them occurring before the Feb.15 and 16 primary election, narrow the field to two. The AHANA debate will be held on Feb. 11, while the other two are scheduled for Feb. 14 and Feb. 18.
Two weeks of campaigning culminate in the Feb. 22 and 23 general election in which students will choose Bunce and Nunez' replacements.
Darr stressed that all candidates need to play fair this year after campaign violations by both of the final two candidates washed out the last day of campaigning.
"The elections committee will be following up on all reported campaign violations and will levy appropriate sanctions when they are due," said Darr. "We don't want to work against the candidates we want to work with them. That said, we encourage anyone to report any campaign violations to elections@bc.edu."
This year's election committee lowered the spending limit from $1,000 to $500 in an effort to respond to the campaign violation scandal of last year. Candidates, however, are still expected to front their own money, something Nijah Cunningham, a candidate for vice president last year and A&S '07, said may unbalance the playing field.
"You have to use your own money [to campaign]. For many people that isn't a big deal, but for [Vanessa and me], you have to work to make the money for your campaign, but to work you have to use the time you want to be campaigning. It's kind of a catch-22," said Cunningham. "If you don't have the proper resources, you may not have as good of a chance. That doesn't mean that those who won didn't deserve it, it just means there may be a flaw in the system."
Voices from the Past
Past candidates offered advice and strategy for this year's candidates. According to Lora Krsulich, a member of the third place team from last year and A&S '07, the campaign can be divided into three parts.
"You have to start with introspection: Why you want to do it - talking to deans, professors, and friends about your virtues and what you can bring to the position. This is the calm period," said Krsulich.
Organizing the campaign begins what Krsulich called the "crazy and chaotic period."
"I turned my room into like a campaign headquarters. I remember going down to the computer lab and printing out the floor plans for every dorm and pasting them all over my wall. This is the time you spend organizing your campaign, ordering T-shirts and all your other campaign material. Then you have to organize your campaign team and get them excited about your cause."
Finally comes the campaign itself, a sort of marathon run that winnows the wheat from the chaff.
"Once the campaign season really gets going," said Krsulich, "You start the sleep-deprived period where you put all the things you've learned together. You have to balance your need to campaign all the time with your need to get a minimum amount of sleep."
Ben Nauman, last year's UGBC vice-president and A&S '06, agreed that perseverance was the key virtue.
"You need to get your name out to the entire campus," said Nauman. "You need to be focused and have a clear strategy and be out there every night getting your message out. We were successful because we were able to articulate a clear and concise platform, we organized a campaign team stratified by class, and we campaigned with a 24-hour mentality."
According to Nauman, the gimmicky and superficial need not apply.
"What didn't work for us is that BC students are in tune with what is going on here. We tried some little gimmicks, but I don't think it brought in any more votes. You kind of did that stuff to keep up with the Joneses, but I don't think it brings in any more votes.
"BC students are remarkably adept at filtering out what is just campaign bluster from real concrete issues. They want serious students for serious issues," said Nauman. "If you are going to run and make the commitment to put in the time and effort, you should make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. If you don't, people are going to know."
Cunningham, however, warned that candidates shouldn't get too hopeful of the voting public.
"It is just a reality that these campaigns aren't as pure as they should be. You would think that at this level it could still be about achievements, issues, and character not a public relations campaign … but if you really want it you may have to turn it into more of a PR thing," said Cunningham. "I thought the debates would be the most critical part of the process. Last year, however, they seemed like more of a ritual. I thought it was disturbing how the debates didn't reflect in the outcome."
Cunningham stressed that being yourself can help you battle through all the anxiety and adversity of the campaign trail.
"I think just smiling and being me really helped," said Cunningham. "Going door to door or working the Quad might be the most helpful in terms of getting votes, but when you are around all that stress, not only might [being yourself and smiling] help you get someone's vote, but it might keep you going when the campaign starts to get old."
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