NEC prevents Am Civ class from running in UA elections

When American Civilization Lecturer Frank Luntz asked his students to run for the Undergraduate Assembly this week, he did not count on the Nominations and Elections Committee getting in the way. As part of a class project for his Am Civ class, entitled "Candidates, Consultants, and Campaigns," Luntz wanted is students to learn what it is really like to run in a campaign. He planned on having several teams in the class, each with a candidate, several advisors and managers. Luntz said that to understand the political process, students should start by understanding the UA. "Why don't you look at your own backyard," he asked his class. "Why don't you start with your own system?" "I'm trying to give you the best chance possible to see what it's like to run in a campaign," he told his class recently. He also said the UA could "use some fresh blood." But the NEC, after learning of the project, brought a proposal to the UA which would be added to the Fair Practices Code, the rules which govern the elections. The revision would bar students from candidacy "to fulfill an assignment from any faculty member . . . or staff-sponsored academic purpose." The NEC brought its motion to the UA, NEC Chairperson Marcus Causey said, because of the money and time required to run a referendum. He said student government receives a limited amount of money to run the elections and it is not fair to students if it is used for a class project. "It would be the same thing if the administration came in and took SAC [Student Activities Council] money to run an alumni reception," Causey said. "We felt that it's unfair for a teacher or any faculty member to be be involved in student government," said Tanya Young, chairperson of elections for the NEC. "The UA is for the students." "It should be run by students who want to be on the UA and they should not be pushed to be on the UA by a teacher to get a grade or to fulfill academic purposes," Young added. The UA unanimously approved the proposal at its March 6 meeting and it took effect immediately. But Luntz, after learning of the code revision the next day, blasted the NEC for barring him from running students in the election. "I will be damned if I'm going to allow a student government body that wasn't elected and doesn't represent anybody. . . tell me what I can and can't teach," he said to his class. "I will not fuck up my class by buckling in to the NEC." He said last night that the encounter with NEC "soured what I thought was a good semester." Luntz explained that the project was between him and his students, and that the NEC should not have become involved. "It's not for the NEC in any way to determine the motivations of students running for the UA," he said. "Why shouldn't the NEC disqualify people who want to just put it on their resume? Basically it's none of the NEC's business." Luntz has still assigned two projects which involve the UA, but no class members will receive credit for running in the election. The projects include one paper topic which asks students to explain their campaign strategy, were they to run in the UA elections. The other project involves filming hypothetical campaign advertisements. Luntz is a Republican pollster from Arlington, Virginia. A 1984 College graduate, Luntz was vice-chairperson of the UA while he was a student at the University. He often invites prominent political experts to the class as guest lecturers, with some recent guests including Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential media consultant, Ken Swope, and Richard Wirthlin, Ronald Reagan's White House pollster.

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