President: Chris Sharpe
While Chris Sharpe doesn't have the most concrete of ideas yet, he has a charismatic and outspoken leadership style that will trickle down to everyone he oversees.

This is not to say Sharpe's visions are weak, they are just perhaps too far reaching and not completely thought through. For example, he would like to expand the Collegium, but he provided no clear plans on how to do that.

Sharpe also desires to make a late-night common space, and is looking into continuing the work towards refurbishing other community spaces that are worn out.

Sharpe says he will continue the work that the current ASSP president Mike Kitson started this year with inter-university communication. He wants SPU to become a leader by reaching out to the other institutions not only in Seattle but maybe even as far as Tacoma or Bellingham. While Sharpe's opponent Chris Bristol said the same thing, this was the only significant goal that he expressed.

Sharpe, like many candidates in years past, would like to increase communication between the students and ASSP elected officials. Unlike past candidates, he has a more concrete idea of how to do this aside from more needless posters. He would like to have a booth up once a quarter where students can come and ask questions about ASSP. He also intends to tour the dorms every quarter, talking to students and trying to understand their needs. Sharpe also has more experience than Bristol. Sharpe's past experience with ASSP has been as president of Emerson and the Nordic Club last year. This year he is a Peer Advisor in Emerson. Bristol, on the other hand, has only worked with Group staff and, while commendable, is not as qualified for the highest ASSP position.

Sharpe might be taking on too much, but that is better than too little. With his energy and drive, Sharpe cannot help but accomplish his goals and influence everyone he works with.

Executive Vice President: Randi Lindstrom
The Falcon staff editorial board has chosen to endorse Randi Lindstrom as the best candidate for the position of executive vice president. Lindstrom seems to have a better grasp as to what the responsibilities of this position entail.

Much of her knowledge about the role of executive vice-president is grounded in her plethora of past experiences as a student leader on campus. Lindstrom has served as event programmer and as the executive director of the Student Union Board (STUB). Her work with STUB has given her a special insight into the mechanics of ASSP.

Lindstrom considers herself a proactive leader, which is an essential characteristic for the executive vice president. Among the many issues that Lindstrom hopes to address are funding for possible renovations to the Student Union Building (SUB), renovations to other buildings on campus and making Associated Students of Seattle Pacific (ASSP) funds more accessible to clubs and organizations by raising the limit on extractable money before having to get the funds approved by senate from $200 to $500.

Lindstrom has a working knowledge of the responsibilities of the executive vice president, and displayed this knowledge adequately during her interview with the staff editorial board.

Running in opposition to Lindstrom is Neil Shupe. The staff editorial board chose to endorse Lindstrom over Shupe because she seemed to have a deeper knowledge of what the position entails. Lindstrom's experience with STUB and Senate, her knowledge of the constitutional responsibilities of the position and her concrete ideas for change make her a more qualified candidate.

VP of Finance: CJ Swenson
C.J. Swenson wants to impact the student body for generations to come. With no specific plans of monumental reform, areas of financial aid can be considered as demand arises. Swenson feels that adjusting the budget according to demand, rather than reform, will yield stronger and lasting results.

Another of Swenson's visions is to make ASSP known and relevant to students, specifically to uninformed underclassmen. This is to be executed through improved communication between senate, students and project management.

Combining overseas experience as SPRINT team co-leader in China, the knowledge of an ASSP Senator, and an understanding of small business budgeting, Swenson embodies the qualities suitable for vice president of finance. His exposure to cultural differences will give him an open ear for student opinion and familiarity with budget balancing provides a potential kick-start in the position.

As a member of both the Constitutional Review Committee and the Compensational Review Committee, Swenson has a bird's eye view of the bigger picture of campus affairs.

His participation in senate and other committees has taught Swenson the art of balancing academics with the strenuous time consumption of student leadership. He feels that in the coming year he will have the time in his schedule to truly dedicate himself to the position of vice president of finance.

Swenson's experience in senate has shown him that there is a weakness in communication between the vice president of Finance and senate. He plans to remedy this and strengthen that relationship while in office.

With the University's future in sight, Swenson does not want to be blinded by current, impulsive bills and issues. He is dedicated to continuing the legacy of consistency and excellence left by his predecessors. Swenson wants to focus on the big picture, not simply the here and now.

VP of Campus Activities: Tiffany Rand
As vice president of campus activities, Tiffany Rand will foster a sense of community by uniting students through campus-wide events. Rand wants to connect small communities, such as clubs, with the greater student body by offering them connections to resources and promotion opportunities.

Rand is passionate and excited about her position and feels that her excitement will be contagious, both to the people she works with and the overall student body. She believes that if events are planned with passion the students will sense that and feel an excitement of their own toward campus activities.

A large part of drawing students to events is low ticket prices. Rand plans to follow the legacy of the last two vice presidents of campus activities by keeping these prices down. Rand did not offer specifics of how she planned to control event prices; she only stated that it is a priority.

In keeping with this sense of fiscal responsibility Rand wants to do away with the position of concert coordinator on STUB. She feels that campus concerts have not been financially effective or well-received in the past. An alternative to this position would be to give the concert coordinator's budget to KSPU, for their use in promoting and holding concerts.

Rand has direct experience working with campus clubs, as a member of the Committee for Student Clubs this year. She was also a hall council publicist her sophomore year. Rand has passion for her position, but does lack direct experience with Senate and STUB.

As a current Peer Advisor in Ashton Hall, Rand is familiar with the juggling act of being a student in a leadership role.

"I’ll try my absolute hardest to make next year a wonderful year," said Rand. Her priorities of communication with clubs, low ticket prices and exciting events -- combined with hiring creative members for STUB -- should allow her to achieve her vision.

VP of Campus Ministries: No Endorsement
The staff editorial board of The Falcon has chosen, after careful deliberation and contemplation, to endorse neither candidate for vice president of Campus Ministries. Neither displayed the administrative qualifications necessary for the job, which – according to the ASSP constitution – include: supervision of six departmental coordinators and assistance with their budgets, representing Campus Ministries to senate, coordination of “campus-wide ministry events,” assistance with the Christian Faith Exploration Program and providing direction and vision for the annual Student Leadership Conference.

Chris Curtin has a compassionate, sincere concern for Campus Ministries and a vision to create more connections and better communication between students, Campus Ministries and SPU's various outreach organizations. In his interview Curtin also expressed the desire to provide greater support for Student Ministry Coordinators (SMCs), arguing that their $50 fund is too small, and that greater resources - monetary or otherwise - should be provided for them.

Specifically, Curtin expressed the desire to create a new position in Campus Ministries: the Involvement Coordinator (IC). The ICs would work in tandem with SMCs in order to facilitate greater student awareness of, and involvement in, outreach groups like SPRINT and LATREIA.

Aside from this concrete goal, however, Curtin's emphasis was entirely pastoral. He clearly has a sincere heart for ministry officials at SPU, but his platform, and his past experience as a SMC, centers on interpersonal and pastoral qualifications. He did not present, and he seems to lack, the concrete administrative skills required for this position.

Similarly, Marcus Hill, as a ordained Missionary Baptist minister, is highly qualified as a spiritual mentor and pastor. Unfortunately, the vice president of Campus Ministries position requires an administrator, not a spiritual leader of this kind.

In his interview, Hill expressed his desire for a "campus-wide revival" in which "people would be delivered from what they're going through." While this is not necessarily a bad thing, the intention to initiate a revival is incidental to the real duties of this position, and his consistent emphasis on it betrays a serious misunderstanding of the roles and responsibilities of the vice president of Campus Ministries.

In short, both candidates have rather large, idealistic visions for SPU, and neither has a sense of, or the qualifications for, the day-to-day responsibilities of this position. Because of this, we cannot conscientiously endorse Chris Curtin or Marcus Hill for vice president of Campus Ministries.