Joe Winter » Election Season! Wabbit Season! Election Season! Wabbit Season!

April 14, 2003

Election Season! Wabbit Season! Election Season! Wabbit Season!

April 15 may be yet another tax day for some, but it will be the beginning of a taxing year on the students of Georgia State. It is the first day of elections for the Student Government Association. There were several things about which I was optimistic before I saw the list of candidates. I was optimistic that this past year’s SGA was able to inspire a list of candidates who would be willing to represent students and build community. Just from looking at the list of candidates, what I see instead is a lot of candidates who appear to be running for the wrong reasons.

Now before I go on any further, my opinion of most of the candidates only goes as far as what I’ve read in their candiate statements. That’s all I know about some of them.

Others, however, have | a | history.

As it turns out, a few of the students who happen to be running for the wrong reasons have decided to get together and form a so-called “reform party.” In trying to gain power — for the sake of gaining power, not for the sake of the benefit of the students — these few candidates have convinced a slew of other (slightly more naive) candidates to adopt a mysterious “reform party platform” in their candidate statements. I should mention that this platform has not been published anywhere that I’m aware of.

This is a very sad state of affairs. In this environment, one of two things will happen, assuming that voters will pay attention to the “reform party” tag. First, it is possible that the candidates running for the wrong reasons will get elected on account of those more naive candidates who decided to put “reform party” in their candidate statements. The other possibility is that naive candidates will lose because they have placed the “reform party” stigma on their candidate statements. Only time will tell whether my assumption is correct, or whether my prediction proves true.

To be honest, I do not want to make statements about specific people beyond refering to Signal articles about them or letters they’ve written and published. In any case, I can tell you that these individuals are running for the wrong reasons.

What are the wrong reasons to run for SGA?

The candidate perceives the world within a conflict paradigm. In this case, the conflict exists between students and administration.

The candidate is unaware of the activities of the University Senate, which is composed not only of administrators, but also of staff and faculty. The candidate, therefore, believes that the way to get things done is to force an agenda on administrators.

The candidate may be aware of the University Senate, but believes that faculty and administrators work with each other at the detriment of students (In my personal experience, the faculty have done a remarkable job of representing student interests better than some students have done).

The candidate believes that the University has a secret money tree somewhere. Therefore there would be no unintended consequences of capping tuition or building more parking decks.

The student population is apathetic.

What are the right reasons to run for SGA?

The candidate is interested in community building activites on campus. Therefore, an effective SGA supports a diverse range of student group events through co-sponsorships and visible participation.

The candidate is interested in the processes of the Student Government and University Senate. In all areas, the processes can always use improvment. Wherever a student representative participates in process improvment is not only beneficial for students, but also beneficial for the University.

The candidate does not see administrators, faculty, or staff as those who oppose the interests of students, but as those who have mutual intersts with students.