3/08/2006
VOTING DOES A STUDENT BODY GOOD: The University of Student government elections are over. Thank God.
Sincerest congratulations to all of the candidates, particularly our new president and vice-president, Peter McElligott and Addison Stark.
As a four-term business senator in the Undergraduate Collegiate Senate, as well as an active participant in the last four campaigns, I've seen a hell of a lot in collegiate level student politics--oh yes, I'm invoking Satan's hacienda--yet, this election year was particularly nasty.
Marred by controversy, the elections yielded a record number of complaints to the Student Election Board, the student-run election oversight body. Worse yet, the level of bad sportsmanship and opportune, negative campaigning towered to new heights. Though I wasn't on campus to witness it, allegations of flagrant campaign violations peppered the electoral landscape.
Why does the University of Iowa Student Government matter and why do fair, serious elections matter even more? Afterall, rarely do administrations accomplish, well, anything. Yet still, major money flows through our student veins and important issues like, say, identifying a new president, loom over us.
In my mind, the election turned out the right way. The Daily Iowan was right in endorsing McElligott-Stark and, surprisingly, for the right reasons. Too bad every other aspect of the race went so terribly wrong.
Sincerest congratulations to all of the candidates, particularly our new president and vice-president, Peter McElligott and Addison Stark.
As a four-term business senator in the Undergraduate Collegiate Senate, as well as an active participant in the last four campaigns, I've seen a hell of a lot in collegiate level student politics--oh yes, I'm invoking Satan's hacienda--yet, this election year was particularly nasty.
Marred by controversy, the elections yielded a record number of complaints to the Student Election Board, the student-run election oversight body. Worse yet, the level of bad sportsmanship and opportune, negative campaigning towered to new heights. Though I wasn't on campus to witness it, allegations of flagrant campaign violations peppered the electoral landscape.
Why does the University of Iowa Student Government matter and why do fair, serious elections matter even more? Afterall, rarely do administrations accomplish, well, anything. Yet still, major money flows through our student veins and important issues like, say, identifying a new president, loom over us.
In my mind, the election turned out the right way. The Daily Iowan was right in endorsing McElligott-Stark and, surprisingly, for the right reasons. Too bad every other aspect of the race went so terribly wrong.
# posted by Laura W @ 3/08/2006 10:41:00 AM 
