Story by Nicole Dascenzo
The season is upon us – it’s time for student senate elections. There are three tickets on the ballot, but a fourth has come up out of the woodwork on social media. You may have noticed their clock-themed advertisements hanging up around Bentley and Ellis, which segues perfectly into the name of their ticket – Time for OU. Their blog gives readers a pretty good insight into the platform, which includes more clocks on campus, more water main breaks and less transparency in Student Senate. Oh, and, most importantly, more chicken sandwiches. Find out more about the satirical Student Senate ticket in this exclusive interview with Time’s President, Chrissy Grieshop.
HCOU: “Why did you decide to run a mock campaign? Alternatively, why didn’t you want to run a campaign on the ticket?”
Chrissy Grieshop: “We decided to run a mock campaign to satirize the student senate elections. Many people don’t care or even know that they are going on. I think making a ridiculous campaign gives people something that they can consume for entertainment and also keep in their mind that these are actual elections and we are parodying actual tickets running. It’s also just a lot of fun. We didn’t run on a campaign ticket for two reasons. You have to notify the board of elections in the first half of the semester that you are running for student senate and honestly, we came up with this idea last Monday. And, the Student Senate Board of elections just has TOO many rules and fines. It’s easier to work outside of these rules to create content that is completely made in reference to every other ticket. One of the most strict and punishable rules about negative campaigning and depending on who is interpreting our jokes we do toe the line. I don’t want our satire to be punishable when we are doing it in good fun. Student Senate election rules were created for people ACTUALLY running and not for people that don’t want to win.”
Emily Delaney, Campaign Manager: “We’ve always toyed with the idea of actually running for Student Senate, but never followed through with it. I don’t think there was any real desire to do it for a while, either. But we really do feel that Senate is kind of ridiculous in some ways and we really want to highlight that with a fake campaign.”
HCOU: “Who are you running with?”
CG: “We have two Vice Presidents, Anthony DiRienzo and Emily Pyle; a Treasurer, Luke Fikaris; a Secretary of Squirrel Relations, Courtney Schaefer; a Campaign Manager, Emily Delaney; a Knighted Senator of Jeff and Morton Hill, Trianna Connolly; Father Time, Hannah Barrow; and Vice Vice to the Vice President, Emma Kent. Because it’s better to represent the ENTIRE student body.”
HCOU: “What is your platform based on?”
CG: “Putting more clocks in classrooms and fixing those that are broken. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and right now we just hope that you’re next to it when it is! We want Descutner gone. We have the perfect person for President and that is Duane Nellis. More ‘chiccy sammies’ at Wendy’s and the dining halls. More opacity in Student Senate proceedings.”
HCOU: “Who are you going to vote for in the Student Senate election on April 3 and 4?”
CG: “Myself! We are completely viable as a write in option!”
HCOU: “Who is your favorite OU administrator?”
CG: “Not David Descutner I’ll tell you that much.”
(Photo courtesy of twitter.com/timeforohio)