When the polls open next week for student elections, voters will be confronted with a multitude of candidates. Among these individuals will be one whose policy proposals and detailed vision suggest a leader who will make notable improvements to the student body's quality of life. Third-year College student Evan Shields is that candidate, and he has therefore earned the Managing Board's endorsement for Student Council president.
Shields has demonstrated the potential to be a strong Council president by including in his campaign concrete plans to address several core concerns of the University student body. Paramount among these issues is safety, following a spate of assaults against students both on-Grounds and in nearby areas. Shields has recognized that although the police presence on the Corner has been bolstered in response to these incidents, there is still a dearth of officers on Jefferson Park Avenue, Rugby Road, Gordon and Grady Avenues and 14th Street. Shields has pledged to lobby both University and Charlottesville police to increase their visibility in these areas, which would be a welcome development given the high concentration of University students living there.
More importantly, Shields will seek to work with University police to expand the SafeRide program that provides free late-night rides to students who would otherwise have to risk unaccompanied walks home. Currently, SafeRide only features two vans and a dedicated library shuttle and has frustrated students with extensive wait times that often reach 30 or 40 minutes. The severity of this problem was thrown into sharp relief when a University student was assaulted in October while waiting for a SafeRide van. Shields has been vague about how Council would fund an additional van, but the expected pay-off - reduced wait times - would be more than enough to justify a sizeable financial commitment.
Shields also expressed an interest in reviving the Late Night Parking Initiative that was undertaken by previous Councils. This program reduced the cost for students to park in the Central Grounds Parking Garage while studying in the libraries late at night, and Shields suggested extending it to the Culbreth Road Parking Garage to benefit drama students and those in the Architecture School. Although there would be logistical hurdles to ensure that students do not abuse reduced-fare parking - those parking at night most likely would have to provide some verification that they were, in fact, at a library or other study location - the past success of the program indicates that it would be a feasible way to promote the safety of students who live off Grounds.
Shields also should be commended for supporting club sports while serving as Council's vice president for organizations. Specifically, he pushed for the creation of the Virginia Club Sports Council, which is working to streamline the scheduling and expand the advertising of club sports at the University. If elected president, Shields said he would continue to focus on club sports by finding ways to meet their financial needs. He pointed out, for example, that the club sports fee that students pay is only $1 per year and has not been raised since 1987. Because club sports are a healthy and productive method of extracurricular involvement as well as a major University constituency - 13 percent of contracted independent organizations are club sports groups and they represent 55 percent of total CIO funding requests - it is encouraging that Shields is considering commonsense ways to increase the funds that are available to them.
Despite his background as an AccessUVA student, Shields has been unwilling to endorse stronger measures to combat increased campaign expenditures in student elections. He has expressed a vague unease about the constitutionality of spending caps while failing to consider alternatives such as a system of public financing or enhanced campaign grants through the University Board of Elections. Nevertheless, the commitment that Shields has made to diversity and inclusiveness by pushing for measures such as Council's endorsement of the DREAM Act last December offers hope that he will remain open-minded and attentive to the needs of disadvantaged communities within the University.
Shields' opponent for president, third-year College student Dan Morrison, also has run an admirable campaign and has been impressive throughout the past year in his role as Council's director of University Relations. The specificity of Shields' platform, however, coupled with his accurate identification of issues that are most relevant to the University, makes him the right choice to lead and represent the student body for the upcoming year.
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