This article represents the opinions of the author, and does not necessarily
reflect that of WSPN.

They would seem like the most unlikely of candidates at first glance: Ben Schattenburg, the drummer for the Live Animals and a local political muse and Danya Gordin, an avid follower of politics and long-haired ruffian. But these two have made remarkable strides in the past few days. They have risen up from obscurity, from merely having the pipe-dream of running for student government to actually entering the race for president and vice president of the class of 2010, respectively.

The two have organized a write-in campaign and plan to personally approach every member of the junior class during all three lunches in the commons today. As Ben put it, “I want to listen to people to hear what they want from their class president. Naturally, if I am elected president then I will work to make those changes happen.”

Danya said, “I think that an incumbent president that has been in office for this long is bound to get sloppy, and I think that it’s time for a change.”

The two have laid our their plans for the class of 2010’s upcoming senior year. Here is a brief overview:

1) Run better senior and junior class dances;
2) Organize more class trips to amusement parks like Six Flags or Water Country;
3) Create and support fund raisers for causes that are important to the student class;
4) Work with the rest of the E-board to address all senior class requests and aid the Student Council with all of their separate projects including Winter Week, sports tournaments, and the new community service initiative.

The candidates want to stress that they would love to change the way the presidency is traditionally used. “I feel that student government in general spends far too little energy determining the will of the students its serves,” said Danya.

The two look to communicate directly about in-school events, which are usually the biggest draw for students. Both have expressed interest in creating an open discussion forum on WSPN for members of the junior class to add comments about things they would like to see done or changed.

Ben explained, “I want to work to know exactly what the people that I am serving are interested in. It’s essential to get their voices heard for me to be effective. This forum will allow for anyone to get their thoughts out there, for all to see.”

I don’t know about all of you faithful readers out there, but I for one am ready for a president who will look at and actually consider everyone’s suggestions that are put forth, two candidates who are down to earth and prepared to not enter the office based on their popularity but their politics.