2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Spectator editorial: Experience matters
Lauer, Charlier know what it takes to be effective
Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion
The Spectator editorial board decided to endorse the Tim Lauer and Meghan Charlier ticket for Student Body President and Vice President. The decision was made after both tickets' presentations to the editorial board on April 10, presenting their platforms and fielding questions from members of The Spectator staff. Nicole Strittmater, who covers Student Senate for the paper, sat in on the meeting but abstained from voting.
The editorial board chose the Lauer-Charlier ticket over the Emily Mattheisen-Caroline Wee ticket because of the experience the former has over the latter. Lauer and Charlier seem to have a firm grasp of what they would like to see accomplished if elected, laying out tangible goals such as promoting diversity on campus through events such as the Asian American History Month in April and revisions for Sodexho meal catering. With all the experience they have, they know what Student Senate is capable of accomplishing.
This isn't a condemnation of Mattheisen-Wee's platform or views. Their passion for working more for students than administrators and making tuition affordable is commendable. But they seem to be aiming beyond what Student Senate is capable of, which the editorial board believes would ultimately lead to frustration and ineffectiveness if they were elected.
There was one issue both tickets brought up that the editorial board found troubling, though. Both brought up the OpenCourseWare system the university is going to be installing soon, which may be good for students but bad for professors. The system, which puts course syllabi and materials online for students to view before signing up for classes, would force some professors with more difficult course loads to potentially dumb down their classes so as to better appeal to prospective students.
Still, the Lauer-Charlier ticket looks to be the most experienced and focused on bringing real change to UW-Eau Claire students. If elected, their knowledge of how the system works will allow them to better coordinate the changes they have laid out for this university.
The editorial board chose the Lauer-Charlier ticket over the Emily Mattheisen-Caroline Wee ticket because of the experience the former has over the latter. Lauer and Charlier seem to have a firm grasp of what they would like to see accomplished if elected, laying out tangible goals such as promoting diversity on campus through events such as the Asian American History Month in April and revisions for Sodexho meal catering. With all the experience they have, they know what Student Senate is capable of accomplishing.
This isn't a condemnation of Mattheisen-Wee's platform or views. Their passion for working more for students than administrators and making tuition affordable is commendable. But they seem to be aiming beyond what Student Senate is capable of, which the editorial board believes would ultimately lead to frustration and ineffectiveness if they were elected.
There was one issue both tickets brought up that the editorial board found troubling, though. Both brought up the OpenCourseWare system the university is going to be installing soon, which may be good for students but bad for professors. The system, which puts course syllabi and materials online for students to view before signing up for classes, would force some professors with more difficult course loads to potentially dumb down their classes so as to better appeal to prospective students.
Still, the Lauer-Charlier ticket looks to be the most experienced and focused on bringing real change to UW-Eau Claire students. If elected, their knowledge of how the system works will allow them to better coordinate the changes they have laid out for this university.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Jacob Boer
posted 4/14/08 @ 2:21 AM CST
Congratulations on your endorsement Tim and Meghan! I share the opinions of this editorial in almost every way. You guys are great and I hope students on this campus are quick to pick up on this and will vote for you both this week!
boerjw
Jacob Boer
posted 4/14/08 @ 2:24 AM CST
Congratulations on your endorsement Tim and Meghan! I share the opinions of this editorial in almost every way. You guys are great and I hope students of this campus are quick to pick up on this and will vote for you both this week!
Tim Lauer
Tim Lauer
posted 4/14/08 @ 2:43 AM CST
I would like to thank the Spectator Editorial Board for their support, and I appreciate them taking the time to interview us. I would like to further inform readers about OpenCourseWare. (Continued…)
Marion Jensen
posted 4/14/08 @ 12:55 PM CST
Hi, I noticed your comment about OpenCourseWare (OCW), and wanted to throw in our experience with it. At Utah State, we now have over 80 courses online, and have not had any problems with professors feeling like they have to dumb down their course material. (Continued…)
Tim Lauer
posted 4/15/08 @ 12:15 AM CST
Thank you for your input, we have been coordinating with the developers of educommons, Which I believe is the software that you guys use in Utah. I really appreciate the encouragement, we have been working really hard to get OCW up and running at out University. (Continued…)
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