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Carlos cries foul

By Eyeopener Staff

Losing presidential candidate Carlos Flores is investigating whether RyeSAC president-elect Dave MacLean should have been disqualified from the election.

“I’m seeing whether [MacLean] should have gone all the way to the vote or whether he should have been disqualified,” said Flores.

Flores alleged someone at a Ryerson volleyball game two weeks ago told him that a coach or an athletic administrator had instructed varsity athletes to vote for MacLean.

“We’re not quite sure who it was, whether it was a coach or a higher person … but the person was saying Dave could give [athletics] more funding,” said Flores, who admitted he heard the allegations second-hand.

However, much as he did last Wednesday, Flores is probably going to lose this campaign.

According to RyeSAC’s bylaws, there is no rule banning university staff from endorsing RyeSAC election candidates.

Even if there were rules against administrators backing candidates, the athletic department denies it tried to influence the election.

“That’s an outright lie,” said Athletics Director David Dubois regarding the allegations. “I don’t know where that comes from … I don’t know either candidate that well.”

An anonymous source did support the allegation that Dubois encouraged varsity athletes to vote for MacLean. Dubois said, “don’t tell people that I’m telling you guys to vote for Dave MacLean,” according to the source.

But at this time there is no evidence suggesting that Maclean asked Dubois to persuade potential voters.

Last semester, Ryerson athletics considered a plan to hold a referendum about increasing student athletic fees. If successful, the referendum would double athletic fees — which are included in students’ tuition — to $100 and $110 a year in order to improve RAC facilities and support varsity teams.

MacLean, an avid participant in intramural athletics and a supporter of varsity sports, said the student union doesn’t decide whether the referendum comes into fruition.

“This is the same cheap tactics they do all the time … Isn’t it kind of convenient they waited to the last minute,” said MacLean, referring to the fact that Flores didn’t contact The Eyeopener about his allegations until the minute before the paper’s deadline.

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