F+L’s Owen Henry asked a few questions of the current candidates for Student Senate, allowing them to expand upon their candidate statements. We will be posting the answers here as we receive them.LUCY MCCABE

While I have no idea as to how I secured the Oberlin Forensics Team endorsement, I would wager that they responded positively to my light but earnest attitude or my presence on the ballot.

This is my candidate’s statement, and we’re working to get it up on the site. I also have the endorsement of La Casa Hispanica, which hasn’t yet appeared.

Things I like: Thai food; liberal buzzwords such as ENVIRONMENT, NUDITY, and EQUALITY; red peppers; spectator sports; people who disagree with me; brand-new socks; outdated TV shows; old book smell; infomercials; the Dorian mode; changing my own light bulbs; hummus; duets with the kid in the shower stall next to you; false cognates; and people who vote for short blonde Irish freshmen.

Things I dislike: awkward side-hugs; the absence of sushi in Oberlin; cauliflower; Ann Coulter; words that contain the dipthong “oi,” like “moist” and “toilet”; crappy water fountains; losing at angry birds; fire alarms; bad internet connection; toilet paper commercials featuring cartoon bears; and other short blonde Irish freshmen.

I don’t mean for my pithiness to imply any disrespect for the institution of Student Senate, but I believe that even in a serious undertaking, we must be careful not to take ourselves too seriously.

I will respect and address the importance of both the big issues on campus –cultural diversity, responsible consumerism, a true understanding of where all that tuition money really goes, campus involvement in community service — and the small ones. Bad coffee and sub-par vegan food in Stevie may not be glamorous or headline worthy, but these are important aspects of our day to day life. I have plenty of ideals and strong opinions, but as my function will be that of a mouthpiece and resource for the student body, I think it is more important to mention that I am eager to hear what is on the minds of the constituents, if you will.

ILYSSA MEYER

How did you secure the Oberlin Forensics Team and the Student Labor Action Coalition’s endorsements?
The Forensics Team essentially endorsed anyone. Not to say that’s a bad thing, but I’m not actually on the team and, for the record, did not actively seek that endorsement. I’m the Treasurer of the Student Labor Action Coalition, and have been working with that group in response to SB 5 petitioning and other labor rallied on campus. I also have the endorsements of OC Democrats, the Oberlin College Feminist Collective (OCFC) and the Students United for Reproductive Freedoms (SURF), all of which are groups that I’m actively involved in.

What projects came out of the Community Symposium and where do they currently stand?
The Community Symposium is an on-going discussion amongst our peers, the administration, and the town of Oberlin. Some tangible projects that were created after the symposium are the formation of the Emergency Response Committee, of which I am an active member representing the Student Senate. Over the summer, we devised a concrete plan that alerts students to incidents like the Dascomb incident as well as mobilizes a plan of action. Beyond that, I’m still working on the formation of the Office of Student Communication to promote equal distribution of knowledge of events, and better access to information.

What have students gained though the City Council, GFC and Student Senate coalition?
Students have gained so much from the coalition that we’ve built! For the first time in Oberlin’s recent history, the Senate was able to align the College (administration), the student body, and the City Council to pass a resolution in opposition to Senate Bill 5. This was representative not only of Oberlin as a progressive institution, but of the statement we are making as a symbiotic town and College. Further, we are able to more openly discuss long term goals like the Oberlin Project, more access to off-campus housing, and better relationship with Mercy-Allen Hospital.

What do you see as the current status of college transparency and transportation on campus?
Financial Transparency was a giant issue before the beginning of my term on Senate. We had the “how Oberlin Works” page, but that wasn’t enough. We wanted to know where every part of our tuition was going, and to who. Because of this, we established the Financial Transparency Working Group which culminated last year in an amazing site which can be found here. As the site was launched at the end of last semester, we need to focus our efforts to promoting it, and adding to the site and the cause. As far as transportation, this is another issue we are working on with the coalition mentioned above. Bi-monthly meetings, constant petitioning, and never ending research are a part of our efforts to get Lorain County Transit back on the ballot for next November.

What are your plans to increase transparency and local transportation?
See above!

Could you talk more about your plans for the Office of Student Communication?
The Office of Student Communications will be AWESOME. It will provide a space for communication for students by the student body. It will feature 2 calendars (one for events, and one for meetings), as well as a virtual bulletin board so you can scroll through the millions of amazing posters the student body creates every semester. That bulletin board will link to the events calendar to provide information. Further, we are working on the creation of a poster distribution service so organizations can pay (a small fee) for the equal distribution of posters. We will also assign office workers to monitor bulletin boards and establish “take down” boxes, free pins, and recyclable tape.

Is there anything else you would like to say to voters?
YES. PLEASE RE-ELECT ME FOR STUDENT SENATE. I love my job and am making SO much progress. I would love to continue what I started for another year. Thanks so much for your support! And if you want to get involved in anything I mentioned (or just want to grab coffee and chat) feel free to email me (imeyer@oberlin.edu).