The Editorial Board has spent hours evaluating campaign platforms and student group budgets to decide which candidates and special fees groups to endorse. In many cases, there were no straightforward answers. What we have provided is merely a guide, but we hope that today’s section will be a springboard for further thought and discussion. Be informed, be engaged and vote — http://ballot.stanford.edu.

ASSU Executive: HENG WITH GRAHAM

Elizabeth Heng and Lauren Graham are the best executive slate choice. They appear well-equipped to achieve the realistic goals they have set out for themselves.

Heng and Graham plan to have the revamped Undergraduate Advising Program assign two advisers to each incoming freshman to create a more consolidated advising system. They also intend to foster greater interaction between student organizations, encouraging various groups to stretch their limited funding resources by hosting joint events.

If elected, Heng and Graham should be held accountable for their more populist campaign promises, including their pledge to make Dead Week actually dead. The pair should also make good on their promise to revive the Mausoleum Party next year.

Senior Class Presidents: MARVEL

Both LOUD NOISES!! and MARVEL promise to deliver everything a senior could want — greater student input in Commencement, mock interviews with the Career Development Center and so forth. Both slates have members with a great deal of experience in student government. But MARVEL seems to have a more detailed plan of action, including rescuing Senior Pub Night and reducing restrictions on the selection of Commencement speakers.

Junior Class Presidents: 40 YEAR OLD JUNIORS

Both junior class slates are running on the strength of their credentials. The 40 Year Old Juniors have a more developed plan. But we’re warning you: If we vote for you, we want to see you execute some of your more outrageous campaign promises, such as subsidized airport shuttles and a dunk tank with school officials. We can’t imagine that many members of the University administration would sign up for that event.

Sophomore Class Presidents: THE GOLDEN TICKET

While reading through the platforms for sophomore class presidents, we were reminded of the saying, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Perhaps the lack of substance present in all of the sophomore slates won’t lead to victory for the Dark Side, but it certainly bodes ill for the class next year. iSlate and Tandoori Chicken and White Bread have based nearly their entire campaigns on unusual catchphrases. The real choice for freshmen is between The Cure and The Golden Ticket. Of the two, The Golden Ticket has better ideas that are better articulated. They appear to have taken the time to plan their platform, which means they are more likely to be dedicated to the job. Still, the Class of 2009 deserves better.

Measure A: VOTE NO

Measure A proposes to raise the Programming and Community Service General Fee by 10 percent. There needs to be more efficient ways to channel money into student organizations than to increase the General Fee. We would rather pay more in membership dues and entrance fees for groups we are actually involved in. Vote for Measure A only if you are confident that the money will be equitably and prudently distributed to student groups on campus.

Measure B: VOTE NO

Measure B concerns the Graduate Transportation Fee that funds the Graduate Student Transportation Board. We see no reason why on-campus students should have to pay to subsidize Caltrain tickets for students who live off-campus. But because typical graduate student turnout in the ASSU elections is so abysmally low, graduate students who commute to school can easily swing the vote if their on-campus classmates prove apathetic.

JOINT SPECIAL-FEES GROUPS

ASSU Legal Counseling Office

Amount requested: $106,700.00

($7.62 per student)

VOTE YES

The LCO provides free legal advice for Stanford students and their spouses, but a $28,080 salary for the financial officer and office coordinator is excessive.

ASSU Speakers Bureau

Amount requested: $123,140.00

($8.79 per student)

VOTE YES

We have to pay for honoraria and travel fares if we want get big names to fly out to Stanford to give speeches.

ASSU Sunday Flicks

Amount requested: $79,002.00

($5.63 per student)

VOTE YES

A Stanford institution since 1937, Flicks is especially important for frosh who find it hard to get off campus to watch movies.

KZSU

Amount requested: $65,580.00

($4.68 per student)

VOTE YES

KZSU 90.1 FM, Stanford’s only campus radio station, provides quality programming and entertainment. Nearly a third of the money will be allocated toward purchasing equipment necessary for a radio station.

Stanford Club Sports

Amount requested: $123,274.00

($8.80 per student)

VOTE YES

Besides encouraging greater student participation in athletics, Stanford Club Sports actually do well in various competitions — which is more than what we can say for our well-funded football program.

Stanford News Readership Program

Amount requested: $55,000.00

($3.93 per student)

VOTE YES

By distributing The New York Times and The San Jose Mercury News throughout campus, this program keeps Stanford students connected to the real world.

Student Organizing Committee for the Arts

Amount requested: $35,419.00

($2.53 per student)

VOTE YES

It costs money to sponsor a large event like An Art Affair, but it is money well spent.

The Stanford Daily

Amount requested: $49,000.00

($3.50 per student)

VOTE YES

Call it a conflict of interest, but we believe in the value of our contribution to campus life enough to ask for money to cover our expenses. In a bad national advertising market, these funds are needed more than ever.

UNDERGRADUATE SPECIAL-FEES GROUPS

Asian American Student Association

Amount requested: $34,810.40

($5.46 per student)

VOTE YES

AASA organizes many valuable events but needs to put on more events that do not revolve around food.

Alternative Spring Break

Amount requested: $45,159.67

($7.08 per student)

VOTE YES

Most of the money goes toward housing and feeding the bleeding hearts who go on Alternative Spring Break.

Stanford Concert Network

Amount requested: $125,437.50

($19.65 per student)

VOTE YES

Again, we have to pay to get big names to perform on campus; most of the money goes toward honoraria.

Black Student Union

Amount requested: $32,099.45

($5.03 per student)

VOTE YES

The BSU organizes many valuable events, but needs to put on more that do not revolve around food.

Cardinal Ballet Company

Amount requested: $13,518.00

($2.13 per student)

VOTE YES

The money pays for copyrights and equipment rental and goes a long way to support students passionate about performing ballet.

El Mariachi Cardenal De Stanford

Amount requested: $12,619.00

($1.98 per student)

VOTE NO

Basically, students will be forking out $12,000 to pay for a one-unit class, Music 157, which the group organizes. We believe that if the Music Department accepts this class as part of the major, then it should support it financially. Otherwise, students who take this class should bear the costs associated with it.

Innovative Student Information Services

Amount requested: $21,000.00

($3.30 per student)

VOTE NO

ISIS is responsible for the flat-panel screens you see in dining halls and other campus locations. In theory, the system saves people the trouble of flyering. In practice, however, not enough people make use of the services that ISIS provides.

Jewish Students Association

Amount requested: $15,228.25

($2.38 per student)

VOTE YES

The JSA organizes important events on campus, but needs to move beyond food-related events like bagel brunches and recruitment barbeques.

Los Salseros de Stanford

Amount requested: $10,326.00

($1.62 per student)

VOTE YES

Los Salseros puts on some great events — Friday night salsa parties, weekly salsa lessons and on-campus performances included — which can be entertaining and beneficial for the entire Stanford community.

Moviemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan

Amount requested: $36,678.73 ($5.74 per student)

VOTE YES

MEChA is the umbrella organization for a lot of the Chicano/Latino groups on campus. The money that goes to MEChA funds smaller groups and provides for a wide variety of events, all of which are accessible to the entire student body.

Muslim Student Awareness Network

Amount requested: $19,529.34

($3.06 per student)

VOTE YES

MSAN brings in speakers from a diverse range of backgrounds who talk about issues relevant to today’s society. Stanford doesn’t really have faculty or too many strong academic classes on Muslim issues. Thus, MSAN fills a crucial gap in campus discourse.

Stanford American Indian Organization

Amount requested: $31,485.00

($4.93 per student)

VOTE YES

The money that the SAIO gets is well spent on events like Stanford Powwow, the American Indian Speaker Series and the Native American Awareness Week. However, they can afford to scale back on meeting food and other miscellaneous expenses.

Stanford African Student Association

Amount requested: $11,265.00

($1.77 per student)

VOTE YES

The money will go toward events like Africa Week and BLM Open Mic, but the SASA can afford to scale back on meeting food.

SCBN - TV

Amount requested: $19,154.00

($3.00 per student)

VOTE YES

SCBN is Stanford’s only television station, and needs the money to pay for royalties and buy new equipment to get back on its feet.

Sexual Health Peer Resource Center

Amount requested: $13,130.50

($2.06 per student)

VOTE YES

Vote for the SHPRC even if you don’t think you need free condoms — they create a safer sexual environment for all students. SHPRC: Spend all you like on condoms, lubes, spermicides, dental dams, massage oils, but cut back on meeting food and staff salaries.

Stanford in Government

Amount requested: $18,091.15

($2.83 per student)

VOTE YES

SIG is very active and undertakes many outreach projects; its requests are reasonable and well-considered.

Six Degrees: A Journal of Human Rights

Amount requested: $13,074.00

($2.04 per student)

VOTE YES

Six Degrees is a valuable publication in a less-than-robust publications market on campus, and has proven very active this year. Their costs are bare-minimum and reasonable.

Society for International Affairs at Stanford

Amount requested: $4,073.00

($0.63 per student)

VOTE YES

Formerly Stanford Model United Nations, SIAS needs money to pay for travel fares, accommodations and registration fees.

Stanford Axe Committee

Amount requested: $7,569.00

($1.19 per student)

VOTE NO

It’s not the Axe Committee’s fault that Stanford doesn’t win Big Game, and the amount they are requesting is extremely reasonable. Still, we don’t see why we should pay for the Axe Committee when we have the Dollies and Band doing pretty much the same thing.

Stanford Band

Amount requested: $60,210.00

($9.43 per student)

VOTE YES

The money goes toward instruments, uniforms and food. But we all know that the main product of the LSJUMB is controversy. It’s well worth the price.

Stanford Chaparral

Amount requested: $18,450.00

($2.88 per student)

VOTE YES

More than just a humor magazine, the Chappie is remarkably involved in student life, yielding candidates for the ASSU executive elections and printing the infamous Fake Daily.

Stanford Club Sports

Amount requested: $50,475.00

($7.90 per student)

VOTE YES

See joint groups description

Stanford Film Society

Amount requested: $34,084.40

($5.34 per student)

VOTE YES

The Film Society deserves to be commended for channeling most of its special fees into events that all students can enjoy. Very little of it goes toward meeting food and other expenses. Their special fees request is a mere fraction of the price of a regular movie ticket.

Stanford Jazz Orchestra

Amount requested: $18,890.00

($2.97 per student)

VOTE YES

The Jazz Orchestra is requesting money for honoraria and equipment. The costs are carefully broken down by event, and expenses for food and marketing are almost non-existent.

Stanford Martial Arts Program

Amount requested: $31,220.51

($4.89 per student)

VOTE NO

Stanford Martial Arts is requesting approximately $30,000 out of a total budget of almost $95,000, including massive honoraria fees and substantial facilities costs. For a niche group, the costs seem astronomical and ultimately self-serving.

Stanford Mock Trial - Stanford Justice League

Amount requested: $12,490.00

($1.95 per student)

VOTE YES

Stanford Mock Trial is requesting funds to cover the costs of attending conferences in Portland and Arizona among others. Most of their expenses — airfare, entry fees and accommodations — are non-negotiable.

Stanford NAACP

Amount requested: $13,061.20

($2.04 per student)

VOTE YES

The NAACP is requesting money to fund events like their Founder’s Day Celebration. The money seems to be well-used, but the NAACP should pick up the tab for things like free T-shirts and meeting food.

Stanford Scientific Review

Amount requested: $9,900.00

($1.56 per student)

VOTE YES

SSR gives all of the techies out there a place to show their stuff and discuss important issues in their fields.

Stanford Shakespeare Society

Amount requested: $15,870.00

($2.49 per student)

VOTE YES

The StanShakes put on two productions every year which require a ton of training and technical support. While they are requesting a lot of money, if they are going to do Shakespeare, they might as well do him right.

Stanford Solar Car Project

Amount requested: $25,200.00

($3.95 per student)

VOTE YES

Who in the world actually benefits from this project or hears about the Solar Car when it’s not election time? But they are good at what they do and win stuff in our name. We’d pay for them for the same reason we’d pay to put someone on the moon.

Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal

Amount requested: $7,800.00

($1.23 per student)

VOTE YES

SURJ provides a place for students to share their passions and showcase their work.

Student Initiated Courses (SIC)

Amount requested: $18,529.00

($2.91 per student)

VOTE YES

Besides giving students a chance to teach a class at Stanford, Student Initiated Courses also help fill gaps in the mainstream curriculum.

The Stanford Progressive

Amount requested: $11,550.00

($1.80 per student)

VOTE YES

The extra money will fully cover printing expenses and keep this small publication alive.

Volunteers in Latin America

Amount requested: $12,232.00

($1.92 per student)

VOTE YES

VILA’s main funding request aims to cover costs of airline travel to Ecuador. The group makes a positive difference in the communities it works with.

Wind Ensemble

Amount requested: $13,503.00

($2.11 per student)

VOTE YES

The money requested is justified and the entire Stanford community can benefit from the concerts.