The district attorney’s race is heating up, and the recent article in the Daily Nexus shows that all three candidates are vying for the support of the students of UCSB and the population of Isla Vista.

I think that when we make this decision on election day, we should carefully weigh what each candidate has done and what they promise to do. Admittedly, I do not know much about either Doug Hayes or Gary Dunlap. However, after studying at UCSB for almost four years, many other students and I have seen and lived the effects of Christie Stanley.

Stanley is a 15-year veteran of the district attorney’s office. As part of her campaign, she promises to maintain and improve current District Attorney Tom Sneddon’s existing policies. All of us should consider this statement an ominous warning – not a campaign promise.

The other candidates have publicly stated that having the Isla Vista Foot Patrol give out an obscene amount of tickets and make many arrests for very minor crimes is not something they want to see. The personal experiences of myself and many other students here illustrate that law enforcement in I.V. is overzealous when it comes to petty alcohol and minor narcotics crimes and lacking at best when it comes to stopping burglars and more serious criminals.

Hayes and Dunlap have both said that, if elected, they will deploy their resources such that major crimes receive the bulk of the attention in our community and will focus less on prosecuting those of us who had too much to drink on a weekend night. All Stanley has said is that she will maintain the status quo in I.V.

Furthermore, she touts the endorsement of Tom Sneddon like it’s a good thing. Pardon me, Ms. Stanley, but the man who has been actively harassing the UCSB student population for the past 23 years, as well as wasting millions of dollars on the failed Michael Jackson trial is not someone I would want to endorse me for any job – let alone for the one he has been doing poorly. Let’s all digest that for a moment: A woman who is proud to come from the office that couldn’t convict Michael Jackson of child molestation and seems to take pride in the number of open container citations in I.V. thinks we should support her to continue the tradition of harassment and mediocrity.

I would hope that all students do their research on both Hayes and Dunlap and decide which is best for our community. But on election day, I implore the students of UCSB make the only smart vote for district attorney – someone other than Christie Stanley.

Antony Mascovich is a senior business economics.