Drake's willingness to work with undergrads shows foresight

Editor,

For the past two years, I've had a chance to work repeatedly alongside B. Lee Drake, who is currently running for GPSA president. He has come under fire for his attempts to reach out to the broader UNM community, which has been dismissed as having no higher agenda than a high school dance.

I want to emphasize that we are all in this together, and we have to work with each other. A good GPSA president should be willing to fight for students, but he or she also shouldn't take down every student that gets in the way. I'm surprised by how readily thousands of students are dismissed as being irresponsible.

Drake has strong experience working for change both here at UNM and nationally. Whether it is coordinating voter registration drives on campus or working with students from across the country, he has consistently shown his ability to work for what's right. Drake coordinated with several student groups and ran a 154-hour get-out-and-vote effort here on campus, helping oversee hundreds of student volunteers around the clock. Drake's willingness to work with undergraduate student organizations shows that he understands the necessity for cooperation between branches of student government. It does not demonstrate a lack of understanding. There will be conflicts next year given the University's financial situation, but if students spend their time working against each other, we will end up with another year of increasing tuition and fees. This negative campaigning needs to stop.

Mercy Berman

UNM student