“Hey daddy, wanna play?” This text message, sent to Associated Student Government (ASG) presidential candidate Vikrum Deol on April 11 was meant to imply any number of things, but the question it ultimately poses is, “How do you intend to play?”
The suggestive text message was a response to a fake personal ad that was posted to Craigslist on April 11, in which a Deol impersonator solicited gay companionship using Deol’s photo and personal phone number.
Deol received between 50 and 70 responses to the ad the weekend it posted.
“They were asking me if I was looking for a good time and I would just respond, ‘Sorry, my girlfriend wouldn’t like that,'” said Deol with a shrug and a smile.
What some would call making the best of a bad situation, Deol began campaigning to the interested parties, asking them for their vote in the ongoing election.
The persons behind the false representation are unknown, but another prank, involving the arrival of 65 pizzas, 25 Quizno’s subs and 30 Subway sandwiches at Deol’s doorstep, was implemented the same weekend as the Craigslist ad, and is believed to involve current ASG vice president and presidential candidate, Josef Shannon.
The speculation that Shannon was involved in the prank has caused a flurry of email infighting between vice presidential candidate/ASG senator Chris Conyers and InterClub Council president Sydney Martinez.
Flying from one inbox to another are accusations that Martinez, as well as Shannon, had involvement in the pranks against Deol, that ASG vice president Shannon is “corrupt” and that ASG senator Conyers is “likely an agent provocateur working with the CIA’s counter-intelligence program,” as stated in an open letter emailed from the Promethean Workers Association, of which Martinez is the head.
Both Conyers and Shannon were interviewed regarding the accusations directed at them, but after Conyers’ request to hold publication of this story were denied, both retracted their statements.
“Everything is fine. Everything is resolved,” is all that Conyers wished to impart.
No evidence has been found to support the allegations that Conyers is a CIA agent or that Martinez was involved in the prank.
Accusations regarding the corruption of ASG vice president Shannon were vague and have not been backed by any factual evidence. Deol acknowledges that Shannon did admit to him his involvement in the pizza delivery prank, but apologized for his actions.
No formal complaints have been filed by or against any of the parties involved.
“We’re trying to focus on solutions not whine and complain,” said Deol.
Currently, the City College Student Body Campaign Guidelines and Contract for Student Elections, while outlining the technical boundaries of campaigning, does not include any set code of moral standards by which ASG candidates are expected to adhere.
Denise Whisenhunt, dean of student affairs, acknowledges the lack of a moral code in the contract, but points out that all students are subject to a “student’s code of conduct.”
