Sean Cornelius, a UW-Madison junior from Pewaukee, Wis., is running for the Dane County Board of Supervisors. The Daily Cardinal sat down with Cornelius, who is studying astrophysics, likes languages and plays the piano, to discuss his candidacy and his goals for Dane County.
The Daily Cardinal: Why are you running for the Dane County Board?
Sean Cornelius: The reason I became interested in politics in the first place is because over time, as I matured into an adult, I just became fed up with the gross inaction at the federal and state levels of government. I know there are all these pressing and urgent problems in society, but little or no actions are being taken whether it is for political reasons or social controversy. So at a municipal level, we have the opportunity to get a lot of things done using home-rule authority and etc., so that's the reason I'm running.
DC: What are you planning on doing for the students if you do get elected?
SC: It is the responsibility of the representative to not just be a legislator but a communicator and listener as well. It is my responsibility to get them engaged in the process, tell them what's going on, hear their ideas, most importantly, and bring those concerns directly to the board. As part of my platform, aside from just being a legislator, I promise to hold quarterly or monthly town-hall meetings specifically directed at students, whether it be in the dormitories or apartments, Langdon Street, Eagle Heights. I think that's the most effective way to hear students' ideas.
In addition to this, I think the most important thing I can do is to recommend for appointment to the various commissions and boards within the county board qualified, interested and ambitious student representatives and actually get some students on the citizen-populated committees so that they have, in addition to me, an extra method of recourse to have a direct say in what goes on in county government.
DC: What do you think of your opponents?
SC: From reading my opponent's qualifications and their goals, and just evidence of the very fact that they are ambitious enough to pursue such a thing, I'm impressed by them and I have no intent to disparage any of their characters. I think that our different backgrounds and our different beliefs and how differently we lie on the political spectrum will influence us to pursue this position in different ways. I respect them very much as people, and it will be up to the voters to decide who will be the most effective candidate.
DC: If you could be any food, what would you be and why?
SC: I think I would be a waffle, and that should not be taken in the demeaning John Kerry sense, simply because I think that out of all kitchen appliances the waffle iron is possibly the most under-utilized, and I have a special place in my heart for those underdog appliances.
DC: Any final comments?
SC: I want to enforce that I am not a young Republican, I just look like one.
Find out more information about Cornelius and his platform on his website, www.seancornelius.org.
