Letter:
I wish I could say I was surprised by the announcement that Yaser Alamoodi has resigned his post as USG President.
His personal business is his personal business, but future candidates should take note: no matter how big your campaign promises are or how much you want to change ASU, you have to ask yourself if you truly can devote the time and energy necessary to make those promises and changes a reality.
Once you are USG President, you will be under scrutiny from the whole school, whether they voted for you or not.
If you are unwilling or unable to shoulder that burden, on top of being a student and on top of your other life responsibilities, then don't justify the apathetic by running for office and wasting your time, the time of the other candidates, running mates, and their campaigns, and the time of all those who supported and voted for you.
Serving the students isn't a dream - it isn't just about campaigns and speeches, morality crusades, and PR stunts. It's a job, and like every job, it's often hard work and downright thankless drudgery, and it's very real.
It's just as real as the disappointment I feel having voted for Mr. Alamoodi.
-Carlos Ross
Letter:
The need to select a meal plan before its approval was the final straw in my decision to live off campus next fall.
Opening the chance for student comment was simply a formality.
Hanson hit the nail on the head in his editorial on Thursday, particularly when he discusses the fact that there are better deals off campus.
These are the issues that have led to my decision to live off campus: the meal plan's ludicrous first payment that requires me to get a loan, lack of privacy, smaller living space, being forced to choose a payment plan before the amount of my financial aid is even determined, and the fact that there are better options off campus at the same cost or less, that don't require me to get another loan.
I may have to walk a little farther (which is the only exercise I have time for anyway), but the positives of living off campus easily outweigh the negatives.
It is unfortunate.
What is even more unfortunate is that no amount of letters, petitions, forums, etc. will have any impact on the administration's decisions.
From what I have seen in my time here, we are more than a source of income for Arizona State University, Inc.
-Isaac Crawford
