Adam Korn, a UW-Madison sophomore, is running for the Dane County Board of Supervisors. The Daily Cardinal recently sat down with Korn to discuss his candidacy, his opponent and his hopes for Dane County.
The Daily Cardinal: Why are you running for the Dane County Board of Supervisors?
Adam Korn: My professor encouraged me to try to get an internship at the Capitol and said they were very difficult, and he gave me a couple of names. I emailed the first Democrat on the list, and it was (State Representative) Terese Berceau and she emailed me back right away and said, 'Yeah, let's have a meeting.' We met, and since then, I've had a real interest in public policy.
DC: Do you do anything with student government on campus?
AK: I was a member of the Inter-Fraternity Council for my frat, and I also helped the president of my frat, Brian Burke, get elected to that position.
DC: Who are the constituents you would be representing? Describe them.
AK: I would say that the core constituency is freshmen and sophomores that don't know a lot about the political system. I think this election, with two students running, is going to be one that's going to get students out and caring about the issues.
DC: How does your platform differ from that of your opponent, Ashok Kumar?
AK: The one thing that sets me apart from Ashok is that Ashok's focus is on these symbolic, wide, far-reaching goals and mine are in a concentrated outlook into what we can do. I have a better idea and better knowledge of how the political system works.
DC: How is your campaign being run?
AK: Our campaign strategy is to meet everyone. We need to meet everyone. The students are so densely packed that there's no reason that we shouldn't knock on every door and hear what everyone has to say.
DC: What does the County Board do?
AK: There are a few basic areas that Dane County has jurisdiction over. Health and human services is a big one. We have to determine where the needs in the community are, and try to keep up that budget for Health and Human Services. Dane County is the only county in the state that has jurisdiction over its lakes and waterways and so there's a big issue with pollution, especially in Lake Mendota. Every candidate runs a clean lake campaign and there's been no progress. It seems like good environmental policy seems to end right at inauguration.
DC: What would you like to see done?
AK: I don't want to be a token student on County Board. I want to listen to students, not speak to them. I'm not as divisive as my opponent is. You know that he's in the paper for his strong viewpoints and his very divisive attitude and the one thing is, I don't want to preach to the students.
