The Associated Students internal vice president is the one person responsible for making sure that the student government runs smoothly. He or she must serve as a resource to Legislative Council members and possess extensive knowledge and experience about the inner workings of the Leg Council and A.S. as a whole. Only two of the three candidates for next year’s internal vice president are qualified to hold this position.

Both April Alene Dunlap, the Gauchoholics candidate, and Manuel Silva, the Campus Engagement Group candidate, are well qualified to hold the position of internal vice president. They have both served on Leg Council and been awarded “Leggie of the Week” for going far above and beyond their basic job descriptions. Both have extensive knowledge of parliamentary procedure. April and Manuel are each prolific legislators and have written legislation to improve the workings of A.S. They both have experience on Finance Board, which the internal vice president sits on, in addition to their participation in many other committees within Associated Students as well as campus advisory committees. These experiences have allowed them to develop working relationships with administrators and staff around campus.

In stark contrast with these two extremely qualified candidates is the SAC candidate, Sunbo Bamigboye. She has no experience working with the Leg Council, which is the primary function of the internal vice president. In fact, she has never attended a full Leg Council meeting. Last week she decided to show up an hour into the meeting, but apparently lost interest after only fifteen minutes and left. This creates concern for her ability to chair a meeting that regularly lasts over three hours. As far as her current position as the vice chair of the Isla Vista Community Relations Committee, she has neglected her duties and has not attended any of the meetings held this Quarter meetings. Her lack of responsibility resulted in funding for a student group’s event to be jeopardized. In addition, she openly admits that she does not know parliamentary procedure, yet claims familiarity with Robert’s Rules of Order, obviously not knowing that they are the same thing.

The internal vice president must assist Leg Council members in their jobs; therefore, it is imperative that the internal vice president know the job of the Legislative Council in order to effectively assist its members. As the current internal vice president and a Leg Council member for two years, I have witnessed the chaos that can occur when someone with no Leg Council experience is the internal vice president.

As the current internal vice president, I urge students to vote for a qualified candidate and I strongly support both April Alene Dunlap (Gauchoholics) and Manuel Silva (Campus Engagement Group) for internal vice president.

Shaina Walter is the outgoing A.S. internal vice president and a member of the Gauchoholics party.