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| Cash, Bayard’s experiences led
to duo’s desire for change |
Bethel Barefoot
Associate Editor |
Josh Brown | Chief PhotographerSeniors (l-r) H. Dustin Bayard
and Patrick G. Cash, SGA vice presidential and presidential candidates,
were brought together as running mates by similar mindsets and
interests that allow them to agree on many issues.
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The words action and change
lay in the wake of political activists throughout history, and these
same principles are what Student Government Association presidential
and vice-presidential candidates Patrick G. Cash and H. Dustin Bayard
hope will characterize their administration if elected.
“What gets me going is aspirations for change,”
Bayard said Friday, in addition to identifying with the struggles
of others. “Whenever I walk around I always try to have a smile
because I’m always dreaming of how things can be and hopefully
how things will be. I definitely want to see change in so many forms.”
The two seniors were brought together as running
mates by similar mindsets, which created an ideological foundation
from which they agree on many issues, Bayard said. |
However, Cash and Bayard
also operate very differently.
“[Bayard] is extremely ideological, while I am always looking
at the cost-benefit analysis,” Cash said Friday. “He says
something is a good thing, and I say it sounds good [and] maybe
in a utopia it would be great, but how much is it going to cost,
how much is it going to benefit.”
Together the pair creates a balance between idealism and feasibility
and also meshes different backgrounds and influences.
Cash said his inspiration comes from his brother.
“I see him having to work so hard … and he’s struggling
a lot. Seeing what he’s had to go through and seeing him go
through the criminal justice system and the way he was treated has
really gotten me interested in politics,” Cash said.
Social activists from the past serve as inspiration for Bayard,
such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as Eugene
V. Debs, a socialist from the early 1900s who ran for president
five times.
“The last time he ran he was in prison and he got 972,733 votes,”
Bayard said. “So he definitely provides a lot of inspiration
for me because I’ve always been a minority as far as my mindset
goes, and I’ve always been the underdog in a way.”
Cash desires to teach English abroad in China after graduation and
is excited by the prospect of travel.
“I’ve found that the possibility of continuing to move
and seeing new places, experiencing new things gets me as giddy
as a little school girl,” Cash said.
Cash was originally led to join student government due to a desire
to become informed about what was happening on campus. However,
his position on the SGA elections committee last year opened his
eyes to many problems inherent within the organization, Cash said.
“[That experience] really riled me up to make change,”
Cash said.
Bayard plans to pursue a doctorate in political economy after graduation,
and then ultimately run for Congress.
“My dream is to be a congressman from Vermont,” Bayard
said. “They are the most progressive state, [with the] only
socialist congressman in America.”
Bayard attributed experiences in high school to his motivation for
seeking the vice-presidential seat.
After moving to the small town of Troutman, he said he was faced
with stereotypes and prejudice by other students in his school.
“I had the long hair, I listened to the Grateful Dead, I drove
a Volkswagen beetle,” Bayard said. “That’s kind of
[what] led to me being outspoken because even though I am a white
middle class male, I’ve definitely been subject to prejudice
and stereotypes and discrimination … That’s been my motivation,
to eradicate injustice and prejudice.”
These influences have led Cash and Bayard into elections for the
top two positions in SGA, which will give them, if elected, the
opportunity to put into practice their ideas of leadership.
“True leadership is an attempt to educate every reasonable
person about the issues so everybody’s on the same playing
field,” Cash said. “The most important way you have to
lead is not by preaching, … not with speeches, but by actually
getting things done before you talk in the first place.”
Bayard also offered his view of leadership.
“[It is] being able to recognize that you as an individual
are no more significant than any other individual. And therefore
when you pursue anything you’re not going to be motivated by
self-interest but for the interest of everyone and the betterment
of all,” Bayard said.
This idea of leadership would come into play for Bayard if he could
switch places with any one person for a day.
“[I would choose Chancellor Francis T.] Borkowski because I
would sit down and break out the university code of student conduct,
and I would completely alter it to where it would actually serve
the best interests of the students,” Bayard said.
The student is what Cash and Bayard said they love the most about
Appalachian State University, and thus important for them is working
to promote student interests.
“I hate how the students are so often ignored and not involved
in the decision-making process at Appalachian. … It seems like
the powers that be on this campus often try to stifle students’
voices and opinions and try to deter them from speaking out, and
when they do speak out they’re so easily dismissed,” Bayard
said.
“The absolute power of the administration really annoys me,”
Cash said. “ … Student government is set up to be an educational
experience rather than real political change.”
Combating this problem includes Cash’s dream that SGA will
in the future achieve a sense of time, perspective and precedence.
“Student government will never be effective if it doesn’t
build from previous years and set a precedence for the next year.
[We must] start setting … a precedence and having a history
of issues that won’t go away after one year, issues that will
haunt the administration year after year,” Cash said.
Making progress and creating change at Appalachian is important
for Cash and Bayard because of how blessed they say they feel to
attend school on such a beautiful campus and with such a diverse
student body.
“I think that we really do have a diverse population as far
as diversity of thought, diversity of mind and belief and that’s
valuable,” Bayard said.
Cash said he enjoys the atmosphere created by the idea of the Appalachian
Family.
“It’s maybe become a cliche, but if it gets forgotten,
it’s going to be a terrible time here at Appalachian because
that’s all we have, is the people,” Cash said.
As far as their opponents, presidential candidate Rachel Johnson
and vice-presidential candidate Lauren Linville, Cash and Bayard
said “they are really nice.”
“However, we wouldn’t run for these positions if we weren’t
the most qualified for the job,” Bayard said.
“We definitely have the confidence that we are very effective
and we feel that we have a really good grasp of the campus political
issues,” Cash said.
“We’re going to win,” Bayard said. |
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