If you've been anywhere near the Union in the last two days, chances are high you've noticed there's an election going on. You've developed a twitch from just the sight of the building as the Stampede pulls up to Lee Loop, and anyone wearing red or green is enough to make you want to run out the doors screaming.
Now through Thursday is the Student Association election. And while walking through the SU this week is a great test of strength and perseverance, your vote matters.
The elected candidates are the faces of the undergraduate student body, and students should get the most qualified people for the job - the ones who will best further the interests of the undergraduate students on campus. If you get rid of the representation completely, then the student voice is going to be gone and student life is going to be hindered. That's why it is absolutely vital to go out and make an educated vote in this election.
Avoidance is an obvious problem. Students don't want to vote, and the numbers show that. Less than 14 percent of the student body (2,576 students) turned out to vote in last year's election. Previous elections haven't been any different - the 2011 election had only 104 more students show up.
After her loss last year, United Party Presidential candidate Judy Mai told The Spectrum she believes the election results are skewed because students just do not show up to vote. The people who show up to vote are either friends of SA candidates who have heard their spiel hundreds of times or the few students who feel obligated to go out and vote based on name recognition. It's clich?(c) to say voting is your obligation and responsibility as a student, but to keep things fair, the statement is entirely accurate.
So yes, the constantly bothersome and aggressive campaigning in the Union this week is annoying and you probably have a thick collection of fliers going, but this is the only way anyone is even going to know their names. Each campaign makes their platforms completely known and SA, in general, has a full handbook for students to read, but who actually takes the time to do that and to get acquainted with the candidates?
Last year, MVP presidential candidate Ted DiRienzio vowed to not berate students passing through the Union during election week like his opponents; he lost by a landslide because nobody knew who he was. Everything is based off word of mouth and what you see and hear as you're trying to sneak past all the red- and green-shirted representatives on the way to Knox.
These few days may be the only chance students get to talk to or even to see the candidates, and that's why many feel uncomfortable about casting their ballots. From what we've heard of the candidates, a major theme is trying to make the student body more familiar with SA and to become more hands-on. For the most part, students do not know the candidates. They rarely stray away from the intimidating SA office. You don't see them in class or in line at Starbucks. So without the recognition or the reassurance, what do you think is going to make students go out and vote for you?
That's why we endorsed the Ciggia/Andzel ticket - it's an easy thing to do to reach out to people and to voice your opinion at meetings. Sometimes that's all it takes.
This is a pivotal year for SA because of student apathy. The student body's trust and patience is waning, and that has the potential to destroy the organization. Earlier in the school year, you voted to keep the mandatory student activity fee of $94.75 each school year. That money goes to funding SA, and nobody is going to continue to want to fund that if they don't feel like their representatives are serving them correctly.
If the organization is not putting out the results, then students are not going to want to pay the fee. After several years in a row of scandal, you can't blame the seniors - the students on campus who have had to deal with every year of it - for being disenchanted with UB and with SA. They are not alone, and you are going to see more groups of students follow suit.
Student apathy may not be a UB-centric problem, but that doesn't mean the concerns aren't justified. After what happened with the Sikander Khan scandal last spring (you know, the former SA treasurer who tried to move $300,000 for an fraudulent mobile app), each group of students need to prove they can have this amount of power without making a mess.
SA is important because it is the bridge between the students and the administration. Even if you're a commuter student or you don't participate in activities or if you think the rules don't affect you, they do. From entertainment, like booking Fall Fest and Spring Fest, to steps toward improving UB like 24-hour busing and library services, SA makes the necessary pushes for the student experience. Its activeness and aggressiveness kept Student Life from taking over student clubs. It gives us what we need and it gives us a voice.
We just have to make sure it's the right voice.
Now is the time to care if you don't want the issues of SA to continue and if you want to have somebody in office who will work for you. Get to the Union and vote.
Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com
