The filing deadline to run for president, vice president or senior class president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah has now passed-so everyone should prepare themselves for the weeks ahead.
In years past, elections have meant student politicians harassing their peers with chunks of stale bagel and unwanted flyers. Many students have responded unfavorably to these tactics, a fact that is reflected by low voter turnout.
But this year, we recommend that students at the U take a proactive stance toward ASUU elections.
A lot can be said about the inefficiency of ASUU, or the fact that it often looks more like a high school clique than a representative student government. Many will point out that during elections, members of ASUU are everywhere on campus-and once elected, they will rarely be seen again.
In some ways, the responsibility for this falls on the active members of ASUU. In a larger way, however, every student at the U is responsible for the mediocre state of affairs that is our student government.
Every student who complains but never ventures into the ASUU office contributes to the sub-par nature of campus life at the U. Every student who ignores posters and then whines about how he or she doesn’t even know what ASUU is has only him or herself to blame.
If you want ASUU to change, the first step is to educate yourself during the elections process. Go to the debates and find out where candidates stand on issues. Contact parties with your concerns. Engage party volunteers when they hand you their fliers-don’t simply ball them up and throw them in the trash.
Don’t rely solely on The Chronicle or the guy sitting next to you on the shuttle to be your source of election information. Find out for yourself what these elections are all about.
Then, when you have decided which candidates best reflect your own ideas about student government, remember to vote. This is the easiest way to effect change in ASUU.
But more than that, students should become actively involved in ASUU if they want to see positive change enacted. There are boards and projects that students can become involved with-and ASUU officials would likely welcome the help.
It is easy to complain, but in this case, it is almost as easy to just get involved and do something.