8/2/2019 newspaperlayout (1)

1/2

THE TIMES-STEPHENS

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR CHAD STEPHENS SINCE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON

DES MOINES, IOWA | MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2012 | VOL. 1, NO. 1 | twitter.com/chadstephens6 | fb.com/chadstephens6

A message from the candidate himselfBy: Chad Stephens

The question on many of your

minds this past week has been who

is Chad Stephens? Maybe though,

the important question has not been

who? but instead why? Today, you

will get your answers.

Chad Stephens was born out of a

desire to change something about our

campus. Chads goal has always been

to expose problems on our campus, and

get students, senators, and faculty talk-

ing about them. Chad was witness to

the way our campus addresses critical

issues. We spend so much time in our

own spheres, dealing with the problems

we can handle, that we forget there are

others we can rely on, others we can

help. In short, there is a fundamental

problem with trust on our campus. Stu-dents dont trust senate to handle the is-

sues that affect them, senate candidates

fail to trust students to engage in tough

issues like gender-neutral housing or

discrimination. There are both struc-

tural problems and cultural problems

that have prevented Senate from be-

ing the pillar of campus leadership it

strives to be.

Thats not to say that Senate has

not been a force for good on our cam-

pus, or that the senators are in some

way failing to carry out their respon-

sibilities. Senate has led the way on a

variety of issues, and Chad recognizes

that the senators work incredibly hardto provide students with representation.

But senate has always had problems

with communication. Their meetings

are sparsely attended, their decisions

are distant and unimportant to the

vast majority of students, and even

with attempts to increase senates and

connect

senators accessibility, few students pay

attention.

Students outside of student gov-

ernment on campus perceive senate

elections as little more than popular-

ity contests that favor candidates who

can claim Greek membership. Turnout

is low despite the ease of voting, and

many students brush off Senate as ir-

relevant or unimportant. In turn, few

students know who sits on senate, or

what senate has done lately. Candidates

campaign on vague ideals like leader-

ship, transparency, or clever campaign

posters while at the same time there is

no open forum to address real issues

that affect Drake students. In this elec-

tion cycle no debates were held to give

students a chance to engage with orchallenge the candidates on issues that

matter to them. At the same time, cov-

erage in the Times-Delphic was limited

to bulleted lists flled with superfcial

buzzwords and the same vague ideals

we have all heard before.

The problems that Chad sees at

Drake today go beyond what Senate

can handle alone, and go beyond what

we as individuals can change by our-

selves. The outcome of the diversity

forum at Student Senates meeting two

weeks ago was the idea that the best so-

lution to Drakes problems was to work

as individuals to improve our outlook

on diversity. While this might seem likean appealing concept, the truth is that

the individuals who need to be a part

of those conversations will most likely

never hear them. At that meeting, stu-

dent anger, passion, and focus on the

issue of diversity at Drake was diverted

toward a watered-down solution with

responsibility for change being placed

entirely on their own shoulders. In

the end, the people who attended that

Student Senate diversity forum were

engaged and wanted to fnd a solution,

but that dialogue means little to other

students who were not there to partici-

pate. Student Senate is trying to lead by

example on a campus that pays them

little to no attention.

Chad Stephens and his sensible so-

lutions are not, and never could be, the

solutions that we need. But Chad isnt

here to offer solutions, but to ask for

them. Those answers can only come

from campus leaders and students

that put in hard work and effort. Chad

wanted, most of all, to spark a debate,

to prompt a discussion, and to get us toask the hard questions. In many ways,

Chad feels like he has been successful

in bringing attention to some of these

issues. Ultimately, Chad exists to lend

his voice to the members of the student

body who have never felt welcome to

participate in student government be-

fore now.

If you have ever felt like you are not

represented on Senate, if you have ever

believed that Senate was unresponsive

to you and your needs, if you have ever

needed to be heard but had no one to

listen, vote Chad today. Chad Stephens

will be your voice, a voice for change,

and a voice for trust. He is your chanceto tell your fellow students, the Student

Senate, and Drakes administration

that its time that we do something dif-

ferent. Its time for a change.

With your help, we can do this. Vote

Chad. Vote Change.

A lot of people can talk aboutdiversity, but it takes courage and

conviction to have a dialogue.-Chad Stephens

Vote forStudent

Senate

April 9-10Two days of voting for Student Sen-

ate Elections began last night at mid-

night. Voting runs through Tuesday

April 9, 2012 at 11:59 P.M. Results ofthe election will be announced shortly

after the election ends Tuesday night.

If you want to see change on our cam-

pus, participate in this election today

and tomorrow. Follow these simple

steps to cast your votes:

Sign into blueView

using your banner ID

and password

Go to the CampusLife tab

Click on the ballot box

on the left side of the

page labeled Online

Ballot

Cast your votes!

1.

2.

3.

4.If your preferred candidate is not

shown on the ballot, be sure to write in

their name(s) in the space provided on

the ballot. Your choice to participate in

this election is important, and we hope

that you carefully consider your choice

before voting.

Poll suggests

strong

performance

for ChadStephensWe here at the Times-Stephens are

intensely interested in the outcome of

this weeks Student Senate General

Election and, as a service to our loyal

readers, we have conducted a quick

little poll to get a general sense of

where all of the candidates stand. Our

poll was conducted both online and

in person, however respondents were

not required to produce a student ID

number and as such have not been

verifed in DUSIS.

Diversity

and Race

at Drake

UniversityBy: Times-Delphic Staff

Continued in a future edition of

the Times-Delphic

Check out Chads Sensible Solutions on Facebook!

8/2/2019 newspaperlayout (1)

2/2

AMC

HAD

STEPHENS

VO

TEO

NLIN

EAPRIL

9th-10th

Pleasepostinyourwindow.