BY JOE DANA
A review of BYUSA presidential and vice-presidential candidates raised questions about the credentials of two of the men running in this year’s race.
The qualifications of eight of the ten candidates were validated by present and past leaders in BYUSA. But the chairman of last year’s Student Advisory Council said Darin Zwick and John Jacobs didn’t meet the requirement of serving two terms as representatives for SAC.
Candidates are required to have at least two semesters of leadership experience in BYUSA “or the equivalent at the level of officer, program director (or) Student Advisory Council Representative, prior to running in the elections” according to a BYUSA candidate application.
On their application forms, Zwick and Jacobs said they served one year each as SAC representatives. But Dan Schoeni, SAC chairman for the 1998-1999 school year, said the two men only served as representatives in the Winter 1999 semester, filling vacancies left by two members who quit.
“They certaintly weren’t SAC reps in the Fall. They started in the Winter semester,” Schoeni said.
Anne Rumsey, BYUSA election credentials committee adviser said there is no system in place to check potential candidates’ credentials.
“We base it on the honesty system,” Rumsey said.
Zwick replaced Hubbel Palmer, an at large representative, Schoeni said.
Audrey Perry, a committee chair in 1998-99 SAC, said she interviewed Zwick to be a representative for the winter semester.
“It was an entrance interview to tell him about SAC and what it did and what his responsibilities would be as a SAC rep,” Perry said. Perry is currently a national producer for KBYU TV news, a division of NewsNet.
Palmer confirmed that he served through the entire Fall semester and was not replaced by Zwick until Winter of 1999.
Jacobs said he filled a vacancy as a Family, Home and Social Science representative in September of 1998. Lyle Stamps, the representative in that position, said he served until the end of Fall semester.
Schoeni, who was responsible for approving replacements for SAC members at the time, said he remembered speaking to Zwick during Fall of 1998 about becoming a SAC representative.
“He may have been a volunteer, but in SAC there are dozens of those,” Schoeni said. “He mentioned that he wanted to be a rep so we told him to apply for Winter semester. There was no doubt about that.”
However, the executive director in charge of SAC training that year, said he remembered Zwick and Jacobs replacing two representatives during the Fall semester, corroborating the candidates’ statements.
See related stories:
BYUSA elections may be extended if no candidates receive majority vote 02/16/2000
BYUSA presidential candidates talk about platforms 02/15/2000
Problems with route Y send all five teams to BYUSA election finals 02/14/2000
Students speak out on BYUSA election issues 02/09/2000
BYUSA elections open to mixed emotions 02/08/2000
BYUSA candidates announced 02/08/2000
