Although the No Rain campaign’s initial promises were facetious — the slate began its run by promising to eliminate bothersome precipitation from Stanford’s campus — the candidates insist they are serious about changing the ASSU.

Now, ASSU executive hopefuls Katherine Heflin ’11 and Daniel Leifer ’10 are running on a platform of widespread reform across dining, housing, student wellness, accessibility and ASSU practices.

“We want the elections process to be about issues and the way the executive can actually change the student body,” Leifer said in an interview with The Daily. “We like our ideas, we think they’re really good, and we think we add a good element to the race.”

Heflin is running as president and Leifer as vice president; the two decided on their positions by flipping a coin. The two candidates have known each other for a little more than a year and met by riding the same ASSU shuttle to San Jose airport.

Heflin’s campus accomplishments include being captain of the women’s lightweight rowing team and a resident assistant in Potter; she is also involved with the Sexual Health Peer Resource Center, The Stanford Progressive and various sustainability efforts on campus.

Leifer said he will stay on campus for a fifth year, and has spent his time at Stanford involved with the Vaden Advisory Board, Stanford Mini-Med School and Stanford in Washington. Both Heflin and Leifer are also former members of The Daily’s Editorial Board. Heflin served in fall of 2008, and Leifer joined in winter of 2009.

Instead of distributing campaign materials such as t-shirts or flyers, the No Rain campaign has decided to direct those interested in their platform to their Web site and, along with several other executive slates, did not seek public financing. Their Web site’s home page says, “Your student fees are subsidizing the obnoxious posters and t-shirts on campus because of campaign finance laws,” which is incorrect; public campaign financing funds are drawn from the ASSU executive budget. In the slate’s blog post on the same subject, the error is corrected.

“Our campaign represents the ASSU that we want to see: one that’s sophisticated, one that’s not in your face,” Leifer said.

Heflin and Leifer said they have the most combined time as Stanford students among the slates — seven years total at the end of this school year.

“The graduate student slate candidates [Ryan Peacock and Jonathan Bakke] are older, but we understand Stanford from a lot of different angles,” Heflin said.

Although the two candidates have been involved with various communities and organizations on campus, neither has held an elected position within the ASSU, although they see their “outsider status” as a boon rather than a hindrance.

“I don’t really see that as a being an issue. I see that as a good thing,” Heflin said. “Everyone who’s been in the ASSU can tell you: ‘Oh, we learned how to schmooze and how to promise people things that we don’t intend to deliver on.’”

No Rain Campaign’s other proposed policy initiatives include releasing textbook ISBNs before the start of the quarter and restructuring the ASSU special fees election process. The slate characterizes its proposed changes to the special fees process as a “pretty original remedy,” which they said would allow students to vote for one of three budgets per student group instead of one out of two. Changes to the special fees election process could require an amendment to the ASSU constitution or approval by the legislative bodies.

Although the slate is comprised of two undergraduate students, No Rain expressed confidence that they could reach out to the graduate student population at Stanford.

“We have an understanding of graduate issues,” Leifer said. “A lot of what we do on [the] Vaden Advisory Board has to do with graduate students.”

“I know [Escondido Village] like the back of my hand,” Heflin added.

Heflin and Leifer have also expressed being “disillusioned” by the endorsement process.

“We’ve been surprised at how many [endorsing] groups seem more interested in having spots on [the ASSU executive] cabinet than determining who would be the best cabinets,” Leifer said.

The slate has one endorsement from Colleges against Cancer, and declined to discuss which other endorsements they were seeking.