 artwork by Cathy Nelson, Completely Different, September 12, 1990 |
Gerbil's candidacy announced
Gerbil (almost) elected U.S.G. president |
Gerbil's candidacy announced
by Anne Conners
The Daily Collegian, March 18, 1981
Wimpy the Gerbil (no term standing) and Fred Schiller (9th-business administration) have announced their candidacy for president and vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government amid dispute over the legitimacy of their campaign.
Backed by Froth and the Monty Python Society, Wimpy and Schiller insist that they are serious about their candidacy despite the satirical reputations of these organizations.
"We are definitely serious," Schiller said. "We saw a growing gap between students and government. Students don't know what government is up to - the only thing they know about it is the movie ads."
USG elections commissioner Rob Flanning said Wimpy and Schiller could not be considered official candidates because Wimpy is not a full-time student.
"They can't officially run," Flanning said. "The (USG) constitution stipulates that the president and vice president must be full-time undergraduate students at University Park."
Gary Kazmer, USG supreme court justice, said even if Wimpy and Schiller cannot officially run on the ballot, they could be elected by write-in votes. However the write-in votes would not be valid.
"If they were put in through write-in votes, the ticket would be disallowed because they are not full-time students, and they do not have a viable ticket," Kazmer said.
Kazmer also said the USG Supreme Court Guidelines for Undergraduate Student Organizations Article 3, Section A says, "Only full-time registered students are eligible for office."
But Schiller says he won't give up and has a legal council working on the matter.
"At the moment, our legal council and the colonel (a cabinet member of Schiller's campaign) is working on this," Schiller said.
With only one major plank to their platform, Schiller said he and Wimpy plan to listen to student opinion about what students want accomplished by student government.
Schiller said the whole student body would be represented on his ticket because Wimpy lives off-campus and he lives on-campus.
And Schiller says he thinks he and Wimpy just might make it.
"From the feedback we've been getting from people, our chances look good," Schiller said.
In the Fall Term edition of Froth magazine, it was predicted that Wimpy would run sometime in the mid '90s and win. but Wimpy and Froth decided the time was ripe and moved the date up to this year, said Jon Pinchock, president of the Monty Python Society.
Pinchock said the society did not intend to undermine student government.
"No one wants to see student government work more than we do," Pinchick said. "We cannot be blind to the state of affairs that exist. What was the percentage of students that voted at last year's USG elections
"If it (Wimpy's campaign) gets people to the polls, is it that bad?"
USG President Joe Healey was amused by Wimpy's campaign.
"Joke candidates add something to the campaign," Healey said. "Last year's campaign was too damn cutthroat."
From the administration's viewpoint, Craig Millar, assistant vice president of student affairs and advisor to USG, said he thought Wimpy's candidacy would undermine USG's credibility with other students.
"I think it's harmful to student consensus involved in the affairs of the University," Millar said. "If students want to improve things, I'm not sure this is the way to do it."
Gerbil (almost) elected U.S.G. president
by Alyce Wilson
Completely Different, September 12, 1990
As former Python Society member Ron Yost tells me, the Wimpy incident began with Froth, which had been a humor periodical on campus for a century (currently deceased -- rather than just diseased). In 1980, Froth published a parody of a book called The Eighties - A Look Back. In the Froth article, a gerbil named Wimpy ran for University Student Government Senate and later became U.S.G. president. Hmm...sounded like a good idea.
So, in time for the 1981 U.S.G. elections, some members of the Monty Python Society, the Penn State Science Fiction Society (PizzFizz), and Froth campaigned for their candidate...Wimpy the Gerbil. Ron Yost, as a reporter for the Collegian. sprinkled the Wimpy story all over a column called "In Addition." The students took interest.
The Wimpy the Gerbil/Fred Schiller ticket was really hopping. They made public appearances, playing it straight. "Secret Service" people with earpieces trailed them. Although the University wouldn't allow Wimpy and Schiller to participate in debates, they showed up as part of the audience. They stole all the press.
Yes, the press loved it. The story exploded in human interest columns across the nation. And the topper...the participants in the Wimpy scam got a call from N.B.C. If they won, they would get a spot on the Tonight show.
Voting day arrived. Wimpy/Schiller were write-in candidates. And, since all the write-in votes must be identical to qualify, the U.S.G. threw out most of the votes (people put "the gerbil" or forgot Fred's name, etc.)
When the results came in, Wimpy had taken second. In actuality, he'd won. Ron tells me that he finally realized what they'd done when he saw the wininng candidates crying; essentially, they'd been beaten by a hamster.
| While campaigning, Reeves and his presidential running mate, Bill Cluck, were the only candidates to debate the Monty Python Society candidate, Whimpy the Gerbil. The society decided to campaign on behalf of the rodent to illustrate student apathy.
"Whimpy was our biggest competition," Reeves said, though the Cluck/Reeves campaign defeated the second place Python Party candidate by an 867-vote margin. -- Kathryn Brazel The Daily Collegian, March 31, 1994 |
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