Caldwell’s handshakes say a lot about character

At the appeal hearing for Troy Caldwell, I saw something that astonished me. It wasn’t any of the testimony or the overturning of the ruling. I knew how that was going to turn out. After the SA Supreme Court overturned the unjust removal of Troy Caldwell, he took the time to shake the hands of the very people who sought to remove him from the Student Association presidential ballot. He wasn’t angry and vengeful toward the opposing council. This was a direct contradiction of the stories that portrayed his personality to be one of bad character and untrustworthiness. When selecting someone who is going to represent you, I feel that it is important to look at the way they handle themselves. So much has been made for his removal that no one has taken time to notice the man behind the headlines. Here is someone who did something that took incredible class, and he didn’t shout it to the world to have everyone notice which also showed me something. This act of valor showed the type of character that I would like to see in our future SA president.

Jermaine Berkley

Freshman, psychology

Northern Star needs to get both sides of the story

It’s a shame that Tuesday’s article, “Incumbents solidify stances” clearly signals a return by the Northern Star to some of its more unattractive habits of old. Was Ms. Robinson unable to reach Mayor Chronopoulos for a quote, or was it just laziness that drove her to pull the mayor’s “responses” from campaign literature? Certainly, unbiased reporting dictates that both candidates are given the opportunity to verbally state their case to a reporter. To do otherwise clearly leaves an impression of bias.

The former mayor’s constant mis-statement of the facts pertaining to the previous mall proposal have been soundly rebutted several times in recent weeks, yet he continues to try and lay the developer’s failure at Mayor Chronopoulos’ feet. The fact is that the developer was unable to to get all of the needed anchor stores on board and thus was unable to secure financing. How does that translate to a failure on Mayor Chronopoulos’ part? Does the former mayor really believe he can get away with misrepresenting the facts given that the City Council meeting minutes are a matter of public record?

As to the proposal by members of the Economic Development Commission to downsize themselves, it’s my understanding that they based the proposal on the facts that: one, they felt a smaller committee would be more effective, and two, many of their original functions have been taken over by the DeKalb County Economic Development Commission and the city’s Community Development Department, because as a public commission, they are unable to speak privately with businesses during exploratory stages or negotiations.

The former mayor also whines about Mayor Chronopoulos’ purported “micromanaging” of the city. Since when is the encouragement of citizen input and participation considered micromanagement? Granted, city business is not pushed through the legislative process in one night, as was the case many times under the former mayor. However, I, for one, see this as a positive, not a negative. The former mayor and some former council members kept the citizenry largely removed from the decision-making process. Just one example of this was their concerted efforts to keep the council meetings off of public access television. Those days are over.

Not only has the former mayor done his best to rewrite his own record, he’s also asking the voters to buy into the proposition that he has changed his stand on some issues. He would do well to remember that his record, as well as that of Mayor Chronopoulos, is a matter of public record. The Northern Star also needs to keep this in mind and check their “facts” carefully before publishing articles leading up to the election in a few weeks.

Ann Mohammed

NIU staff member, biological sciences

Resident, Ward 7

Caldwell will take steps to lower campus racism

At this time, I would like to voice my support as a white student for the minority ticket in the upcoming SA elections consisting of Troy Caldwell, Karega Harris, Alex Alaniz and Jamie Garcia. First and foremost, as a member of the white majority, I feel it is our obligation to do everything possible to ensure that the needs of our minority brothers and sisters are met as well as our own.

Incidents of racial bias occurring on our campus need to be confronted and changed so that all students regardless of race have the opportunity to build in a stable, positive environment where the needs of the student body can be universally met. Troy Caldwell assures us that he will take appropriate steps to continue this process, as well as encouraging an atmosphere where various organizations, of all races, can come together in order to not only provide unique perspectives to universal campus issues, but make real concrete steps towards destroying racism and social segregation. Furthermore, Troy Caldwell, beyond all concepts of race, really is the most politically-qualified and personally-committed candidate in regards to confronting all student problems and making real progress instead of espousing more empty rhetoric. Peace.

Will Heriford

Sophomore, philosophy