Student Association executive elections are less than a week away and the student body’s decision between two tickets is as difficult as it has been any year before.

There is one less ticket on the ballot this year but each of the candidates seems more savvy than in years past.

The Northern Star had the unique opportunity to examine the candidates’ platforms in the form of a debate the Star hosted Tuesday night.

The “Get Represented” ticket, consisting of Raoul Gravel, Jen Suerth, Phil Stroud and Jeffrey Meyer, who are candidates for president, vice president, treasurer and student trustee, respectively, seems most poised to bring financial reform to the student government in charge of about $1.3 million in student fees.

Well spoken and informed, the ticket’s candidates advocated reducing if not eliminating SA executives’ salaries. The $8.35 per hour for up to 20 hours a week already may be more than $8 too many for an executive’s salary.

Gravel’s proposal to decline about $65,000 in executive allocations and cut the Huskie Highlights budget would mean more money could be allocated to student organizations. With the future of university funding in question, any means to cut spending and redistribute would be welcome.

The ticket also advocated putting a freeze on any future tuition and student fee increases. While the Star views this as a worthwhile pursuit, it begs the question if this is really an attainable goal. The Star wishes them the best of luck.

There were several noteworthy ideas offered by the opposing ticket’s candidate for president, DuJuan Smith. In particular, Smith wanted to cut back funding for Huskie Highlights, but unlike Gravel’s call to dissolve the publication Smith suggested converting the magazine to an online-only publication.

As far as the controversial magazine goes, what is done is done. Sadly, tens of thousands of dollars in student fees were invested in funding a publication that never fulfilled its promises.

As Smith so eloquently argued, the many diverse campus organizations can only benefit from more outlets for their publicity. The magazine might even be more accessible online.

It is the Star’s sincere hope that the “Get Represented” ticket will live up to its potential while adopting the sound ideas of their opponents.