Our View

Situation:

The Student Government fall elections are today and Tuesday.

Stance:

There are too few candidates on the ballot. The organization must rethink its recruiting.

On today and tomorrow’s Student Government ballot, a total of 17 students are listed for 25 possible senate positions. What is the point?

All a Student Senate member needs to do is vote for themselves and they’re elected into the senate. This is too easy. Without competition, students’ votes are meaningless. In fact, the Student Senate Speaker usually appoints most students who do not win their elections onto the senate after the first few weeks of the semester.

This is a sign of the times. When participation is so low that all the ballot positions cannot be filled, then the organization really needs to look at itself in the mirror and figure out why it doesn’t appeal to students.

During Winter Break, members of the Executive Board must work diligently at planning a new approach to the college community so that Student Government can build its influence. We don’t want to hear any excuses about how the break is a series of nonacademic days in which business cannot be conducted.

All the members of the senate and the Executive Board have functioning brains and can think individually or brainstorm via Facebook as to how the organization can gain more exposure and influence.

Student Government, like registered student organizations, cannot be cut and it sometimes serves a good advisory role to the vice president for student affairs office. Despite the organization’s production questions, Student Government offers many valuable opportunities at building leadership qualities and learning about institutional development.

Not having enough people to fill the ballot shows just how far Student Government’s branches don’t reach at Eastern. Having open seats on the senate is a waste of opportunities, and calls the question of why fall elections are even needed.

Many lessons can be learned from running a campaign, as we saw during the spring elections to brought in more than 1,000 votes and saw a close finish between candidates for the vice president for academic affairs.

But this is yet another reality check knocking on the door of the Student Activities Center asking Student Government to come out and play.