Students would do well to vote for Andrew Powell

All students should vote for Andrew Powell to be their next student body president.

Out of the remaining two candidates, Powell possesses the qualities and characteristics that would make for the most effective student body president.

One of the most important responsibilities of the job is dealing with administrators and other officials at a high level. Whether it is speaking in favor of gender neutral housing in front of the Board of Trustees or casually meeting with Chancellor Carol Folt, it is extremely important for the president to connect with these people while still representing the students that voted for him.

Though he may not have the same experience dealing with these administrators that past presidents have, Powell is sure to be prepared in these meetings.

During candidate interviews with the editorial board, it became obvious that speaking publicly comes naturally to him. Additionally, though we asked about a wide range of topics, Powell was able to easily and directly answer each question without skirting over any issue.

Both of these qualities are important when dealing with the BOT or the Board of Governors, who may be a little more intimidating than meeting with us.

The concreteness and breadth of his platform is also to be applauded despite its over-ambition.
His policies on increasing the environmental aspects of the university are both novel for the area and proven across the nation. UNC would benefit exponentially if Powell could implement his proposed campus-wide restriction on both plastic bottles and plastic shopping bags.

Powell’s stance on gender neutral housing also demonstrates a sense of practicality that runs concurrently with his desire to represent the interests of the students. Though his platform states that he plans to continue pressuring the BOG for gender neutral housing on campus, it also details a short-term solution in the form of partnering with local apartment buildings to offer this type of housing near campus.

It would be appalling if this were the long-term solution. People desiring this type of housing should not be banished from campus — but is a hard truth that the BOG will likely not pass this measure within the next few months and this seeks to offer realistic relief in the meantime.

Finally, Powell’s stance on tuition communicates a pragmatism that is valuable to UNC. As his platform states, it is unreasonable to expect any student to actually argue in favor of tuition increases. Instead he offers solutions that would address the problem at its roots by cutting costs.

This is where Powell’s near obsession with education reform comes in. Though his vision of a flipped classroom may be beneficial to UNC, it is possible that it may not be implemented during his time in office, as it’s unlikely to implement something so vast with this position.

However, students should not simply see this as a negative. Instead, this obsession stands as a testament to the time and energy Powell is willing to put into a project or an idea. If UNC sees another one of the scandals that have plagued it in years past, it is reasonable to conclude that Powell will use these abilities to ease its passage through it.

Powell has the abilities and desire to implement change at this University. Students should see this and vote for him in today’s run off election.