In this year?s slate battle for ASI power, I pick the current Executive Vice President Artemio Pimentel?s VISION slate to prevail over the Hans Weichhart?s SupportUS slate. (For any of you who are confused with the slate system, I would compare it to a mutt political party representing every color, belief, creed, and idea on our campus).

SupportUS has a very strong and well thought-out ad campaign, but I am convinced that VISION will win due to a strong backing from Sac State?s fraternities and sororities and many other groups here on campus.

Before proceeding and in order to maintain this column?s credibility, I feel it imperative to state that I myself planned to join the VISION slate until certain circumstances prohibited me from running for a director position. I feel it equally imperative to state that my identical twin brother, Luke Wood, is the VISION candidate for director of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, thus one might assume that my opinion would be somewhat bias. However, I feel that my thoughts on the slate battle are extremely reasoned.

Most likely, the Greek vote will support the VISION slate, and not only that, the VISION camp should also count on the ethnic vote. They have placed the President of Ebony Nation Janus L. Norman as their candidate for Director of Arts and Letters. Norman who is a strong black student figurehead on campus, will surely draw far more than just the Ebony Nation to the voting booths. In addition to Norman, the slate also brings to the table Vice President of University Affairs candidate Calvin Davis, a co-coordinator of Black Family Week. As for the Latino vote, Pimentel?a strong CAMP (College Assistance Migrant Program) advocate and supporter who retains aspirations of being the first Latino president in 25 years?will surely draw votes from the Latino community.

In the dormitory vote, both have strenuously made a point to draw the dorm vote and thus split it in two. The freshmen vote which will most likely go to SupportUS because Hans Weichhart?s and Shara Perkins? strategic move of being freshmen orientation leaders. However, the freshmen vote probably won?t be enough to give SupportUS an edge in the election.

Though the VISION squad has a major draw from the Greek and Ethnic vote?and more ASI experience which we will discuss later?one has to admire the beautiful billboards and well designed Web page of SupportUS (www.supportus.org). No doubt both slates have extremely different ideas about how ASI should operate. Surely this election will affect your college experience, so I encourage all to vote April 24 and 25.

Joshua Wood is an undeclared student and can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].