By Daniel Johnson-Kim, Sports Editor
Gentlemen start your Facebook groups Ð Students’ Association elections are upon us. It’s that time of year when the doors, walkways and Facebook inboxes of ACU are filled with campaign literature holding promises of visions for SA and plans to fix all the problems of our chaotic campus.
Before we know it, stances on all the hard issues — more bike racks on campus and the need for fountain drinks in the Smokehouse Grill (the old Bean Sprout) Ð will be plastered on posters and sidewalks across campus.
Give me a break.
Although SA has proved to be efficient at getting little things like bike racks and fountain drinks done on campus, they only affect a small portion of the students. SA fails to tackle universal issues that affect every student on campus.
That is why the candidates I want to win are candidates that aren’t afraid to take on controversial and universal issues that affect all students across major, class and club lines.
Things like pressuring the administration to implement tuition freezes, extending library hours and being the student body’s voice in chapel decisions. All three of these examples affect the majority of students on campus, and all three of these examples are issues that won’t be easy to accomplish.
Lets face it, the SA campaign elections are microscopic versions of national campaigns filled with false promises and voter apathy. One way to change that is by daring to accomplish things that will influence this campus long after our generation of students is gone.
If SA wants the respect of the student body and to end the criticisms that it is only there to boost the resumes of aspiring politicians, they must accomplish something that isn’t simple. Simplicity is never noticed, but perseverance and a tenacity to get things done no matter how hard they are.
If every student is truly a member of SA, like so many candidates remind us over and over again, shouldn’t the representatives, senators and executive officers accomplish things that make an impact on all the students’ lives?
Let’s not make this year’s elections a popularity contest; lets make this year’s elections a springboard for getting things done.
With the right officers, SA can make a difference on this campus. And with the right officers we will not have another “do-nothing” SA in the next school year.
