Abstain from voting in SMC election
The Observer
Editorial
Saint Mary's students have once again been given only one choice for student body elections. Elizabeth Jablonski-Diehl, current student body vice president, and Sarah Brown, current sophomore class president, are the only candidates willing to run for president and vice president, respectively. This means that for the third year in a row Saint Mary's students cannot participate in a real election. Seniors have only had a choice of candidates once, during their freshman year, and no other class has even had this choice. This is a disturbing trend in student government politics that needs to stop.
Students can help stop this trend by voting to abstain in Tuesday's election.
Saint Mary's student leaders should not be afraid or hesitant to challenge one another, in meetings or in elections. "One of the great things about Saint Mary's is that they bring a leader out of every Saint Mary's student," vice presidential candidate Sarah Brown said in an interview with The Observer. If this is true, then why have students have stood quietly aside, instead of stepping forward to run in student body, like leaders would? Student government should be about adequate representation and who can do the best job on behalf of Saint Mary's students. When students are not even given an option in elections, it isn't about who can do the best job, but who is going to have to do the job.
This year it will most likely be Jablonski-Diehl and Brown who have to do the job. If elected, Jablonski-Diehl and Brown plan to continue a lot of the work this past year's administration began. This includes moving forward with the Reading Day proposal, improving the Board of Governance Web site and improving dialogue among students and student government representatives. In essence their campaign is a continuation of this past year's administration. However, new ideas are required in any successful administration and Jablonski-Diehl/Brown had none to present in their Observer endorsement interview.
"At some point there are not a lot of new ideas," Jablonski-Diehl admitted.
Jablonski-Diehl/Brown could very well be the best ticket, but nobody will know unless there is a choice of candidates. Students can demand a real election by clicking "abstain" instead of "Jablonski-Diehl/Brown" when voting Tuesday. If a majority of the voting students abstain, it will result in a vote of no confidence and force the election process to begin again, thus granting Saint Mary's students another chance to demonstrate leadership and step forward with new ideas.
If students choose to abstain, current student government representatives will know that they are not adequately representing students. By voting to abstain, the election process will start again, giving students the chance to step forward with fresh ideas to invigorate a stagnant government and give students at Saint Mary's a real election, something most of its students have never had.
The Observer endorses abstention in Saint Mary's student body election on Tuesday.
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, January 27, 2003
