2008 Woodie Awards
SGA Cabinet elections deserve serious treatment
Aarik Danielsen
Issue date: 4/1/04 Section: The Forum
- Page 1 of 1
As Election Day draws near, we face a critical time in our collective history. Advertising is in abundance, sloganeering has reached a premium and candidates have begun to draw their proverbial lines in the sand. Voters must decide which administration they will allow to lead them forward in the days to come. The time has come to choose a side.
The election I am speaking of is not the national type that comes in November, but is the election for Student Government Association officers that will take place at Southwest Baptist University on Wednesday, April 7.
While I may have exaggerated a bit as to the importance of this election, it truly is important that students take such a process seriously and give full weight to the election of campus leaders.
Unfortunately, during the time I have been at Southwest Baptist University, I have seen exactly the opposite reaction from most students. Student elections are a joke to many and are treated as a popularity contest at best. The precedent set in these instances is disturbing and must be reversed.
It would be easy and natural at this point for the readership to suggest I lighten up. My message may seem heavy-handed, but allow me to further clarify my position. I am not suggesting we make student elections as important as state and national ones, or even that candidates for student government positions have the potential or power to affect the kind of change that inspires the political allegiances of most citizens.
It is obvious the issues facing student leaders are not as serious as those facing the men who will be considered for the office of United States President in November.
The future SGA President will not face questions of tuition breaks for the upper class and will never have to come before the Student Body with plans to go to war with Truman State because they may or may not be hiding weapons.
If we say we take our educations seriously, however, we must seek to become well-rounded in all areas, not just educating ourselves academically, but in many areas of life.
Being involved and educated in the voting process of student elections serves as good training for becoming involved in state, local and national elections once we find ourselves in "the real world."
To become a successful participant of the electoral process when it comes to voting for President or bond issues, one must educate him or herself about all facets of the issue and make a decision based on their information and values.
Student elections should be no different. When voting for SGA offices, students should take the time to research who is running, why they are running, and what changes they intend to initiate if they are successful in being elected.
If college truly is a training ground for the rest of our lives, we cannot treat these elections as if we were still in high school, voting for whoever makes the prettiest poster, passes out the most candy or sits at our lunch table.
If students review the candidates and find a lack of acceptable leadership, they must then act on their ideals and change things themselves. At this time in our lives, many of us express indignation about a number of things and seem to champion the idea of activism. This is a popular way to view the world when one is in college, as we are forming our opinions about how the world works and what the cause is when it does not.
Why not train and hone those urges in a place small enough that we have direct access to those who make the majority of decisions?
The ideas I have proposed may still seem too serious to some readers, but I encourage you to reflect on what I have said and allow those reflections to guide the level of involvement you ascribe to in the last few days before our campus election.
We should send a message to those running and to ourselves that we care about what happens in our school and that our standards are high. In learning to do this, we may better learn how to send a message to the rest of the world when our time comes.
The election I am speaking of is not the national type that comes in November, but is the election for Student Government Association officers that will take place at Southwest Baptist University on Wednesday, April 7.
While I may have exaggerated a bit as to the importance of this election, it truly is important that students take such a process seriously and give full weight to the election of campus leaders.
Unfortunately, during the time I have been at Southwest Baptist University, I have seen exactly the opposite reaction from most students. Student elections are a joke to many and are treated as a popularity contest at best. The precedent set in these instances is disturbing and must be reversed.
It would be easy and natural at this point for the readership to suggest I lighten up. My message may seem heavy-handed, but allow me to further clarify my position. I am not suggesting we make student elections as important as state and national ones, or even that candidates for student government positions have the potential or power to affect the kind of change that inspires the political allegiances of most citizens.
It is obvious the issues facing student leaders are not as serious as those facing the men who will be considered for the office of United States President in November.
The future SGA President will not face questions of tuition breaks for the upper class and will never have to come before the Student Body with plans to go to war with Truman State because they may or may not be hiding weapons.
If we say we take our educations seriously, however, we must seek to become well-rounded in all areas, not just educating ourselves academically, but in many areas of life.
Being involved and educated in the voting process of student elections serves as good training for becoming involved in state, local and national elections once we find ourselves in "the real world."
To become a successful participant of the electoral process when it comes to voting for President or bond issues, one must educate him or herself about all facets of the issue and make a decision based on their information and values.
Student elections should be no different. When voting for SGA offices, students should take the time to research who is running, why they are running, and what changes they intend to initiate if they are successful in being elected.
If college truly is a training ground for the rest of our lives, we cannot treat these elections as if we were still in high school, voting for whoever makes the prettiest poster, passes out the most candy or sits at our lunch table.
If students review the candidates and find a lack of acceptable leadership, they must then act on their ideals and change things themselves. At this time in our lives, many of us express indignation about a number of things and seem to champion the idea of activism. This is a popular way to view the world when one is in college, as we are forming our opinions about how the world works and what the cause is when it does not.
Why not train and hone those urges in a place small enough that we have direct access to those who make the majority of decisions?
The ideas I have proposed may still seem too serious to some readers, but I encourage you to reflect on what I have said and allow those reflections to guide the level of involvement you ascribe to in the last few days before our campus election.
We should send a message to those running and to ourselves that we care about what happens in our school and that our standards are high. In learning to do this, we may better learn how to send a message to the rest of the world when our time comes.
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