I recieved the following email from University Party member Laura Lightbody. For the sake of fairness, I will post it here:

“I am absolutely livid at the blatantly false e-mail message I received regarding the new University Party. E-mails are being sent out in mass quantities to various student organizations making absurd accusations on the party that it secretly proposes to eliminate commissions such as The Women’s Issues Commission and the Minority Affairs Commission. The e-mails could only be sent out by Students First as a ploy to bring down the rapidly growing and very successful U party in an attempt to glorify their own platform. However, all the controversy only makes Students First a party practicing dirty politics based on accusations that in fact are absolutely not true. No where on The U Party platform does it say or even imply an elimination of commissions. I am greatly disgusted by our student government and the immature campaigning strategy in which Students First is practicing. Not only does it present a false platform of The U party and look poorly on Students First, most importantly it misinforms the student body about the student government issues that are important. If Students First is a party that claims “We want to give power and a voice to students to improve their experiences and the university environment,” how exactly do they plan on giving the students a voice and power when Students First is sending out false messages to the student body that primarily takes the power out of the students hands and into their own. Who wants a party, such as Students First, to represent the student body, when it’s main campaign is to claim false accusation about the opposition? I sure don’t. This semester I am voting for the U party, that’s for sure.”

For the record, I think her logic is specious at best. When a party runs people as right-wing as Adam Haba, I think it’s realistic to expect MSA to change for the worst. What’s the use of having a student government if they only think of themselves as a student council?