Noticed the bright green posters around campus lately? You know, the one’s that say “The Sync Party” and feature a photo of Jake Rush and Ellie Sanchez. I had the opportunity to sit down and interview Jake Rush one-on-one to get to know Jake and what his campaign is all about.
Let’s start with getting to know Jake, shall we? Jake’s a double major in Political Science and Philosophy. He loves Lady Gaga, and oldies music – especially Bob Dylan. You may catch him listening to his favorite radio station 94.1, riding around campus on his 10-speed bike, or taking a swing at the golf course. Jake is also a liberal and a political news junkie. He’s enjoyed watching the current presidential campaigns.
With a love for history, one of Jake’s more unique hobbies include collecting old newspapers and writing for the Daily Utah Chronicle’s Opinion section. Proud of his newspaper collections, he’s got the New York Times from when Obama was elected, among others. His dream jobs include President of the United States, Supreme Court Justice, and Philosopher. High ambitions you may say? Jake’s fully equipped for the challenge, and he’s starting with running for student president.
The Sync Party’s platform includes four main points: a student tuition council, withdrawal policy reform, food trucks, and a food pantry. After discussing these points in-depth with Jake, I found that there’s a lot more to these ideas than most students probably realize. Not to mention, Jake’s already made headway on these points by talking to the appropriate administrators about making them happen. While Jake hasn’t served in ASUU before, don’t let that skew your resolution. He’s a capable student and leader ready to face the challenges that lie ahead.
Student Tuition Council
Tired of seeing the news headline “U Tuition to Increase by 10%”, only to cringe at your new tuition bill every semester? The Sync Party intends to form a council of students to advise the Board of Trustees on tuition and fee increases. The idea behind this is for the Board of Trustees to submit a proposal every year dealing with budget increases prior to enactment, and to expand the student voice by meeting with the student tuition council in order to get a better idea of student priorities.
Withdrawal Policy Reform
If you’re a student with a “W” on your transcript, this one’s for you. The idea behind this platform is to pro-rate tuition charges. This means that if you’re in a class for a month and then withdraw, you only pay for the classes you took. That way, the university still gets money from the classes you took, but you don’t lose out on refunds completely. The second part of this platform is to change the university policy on transcript Withdrawals to enable students to have one “W” stricken off their record.
According to Rush, “This is designed to strike a fair balance, making the university get some money back, and students do too, without being told it’s a matter of life and death.”
Food Trucks
The idea is to bring food choices from local vendors onto campus such as taco stands, and other food trucks. They would be cheaper for students than Chartwells, and it wouldn’t be a cost to students.
Food Pantry
We all understand what it’s like to be a poor college student. This platform is designed to help those students in the direst need by providing emergency food assistance to low-income and struggling students. According to Rush it will need little to nothing to set up and maintain. The basic gist behind it is to provide an accessible pantry to students in order to provide them and their families with desperately needed food, and hence prevent them from dropping out from inability to support their families. Utah Valley University has a similar program to this, and it has proved successful.
According to Rush, “This is the most ambitious platform, but one of the most achievable.”
“I think there’s a need for all of them [platforms]…Students are first priority, these points are designed to make things fairer, simpler and easier for students.
Rush understands that being in office requires empathy. “I think you have to have empathy in order to understand people with different backgrounds than yourself. You have to be able to get a sense of where these students come from…I think that’s one of the most important qualities in a president.”
When asked what Rush’s main motivation for running was, he told me, “I like the challenge of changing the ethos in student government. I feel like the student hasn’t been the primary concern the past while…but really, the students are the reason the university was conceived in the first place.”
March 6th and 7th are voting days. Get out and make your choice count!