ASASU Elections: A not so surprising fiasco

Last year ASASU president-elect Jenny Holstrom and the other newly elected ASASU officials waged war on student apathy. They blamed low voter turn out on the students not knowing the who, what, where and why of the ASU student government. The 2000 elections raise the same questions as the last decade: student understanding of ASASU, funding for student organizations, a more reliable safety escort service. As Y2K subsided with the new year, so did the students belief in ASASU. Last year about four percent of our 40,000 plus student body voted in the ASASU elections, and as voter turn out decreases, so does the effectiveness of ASU student government. Why do presidential candidates have similar platforms year after year? For the same reason the bike co-op is closed every time I have a flat tire. The misconception is the newly elected officials vanish after the election. The reality, they were never there before the election. Students see signs for of the bridge (Shaun Bainbridge) and Karem Roitman's posts in different languages, but where are the candidates? I recall the creative sign referring to Dr. Suess, "one fish two fish, red fish , Newman fish" but I never saw Newman until the day of the election. I didn't see the 2000 candidates until yesterday's Q&A in front of the MU. They spoke for about an hour and a half, and they expect the entire student population to flock to the MU to hear their precious platform. What of the students who couldn't make it that afternoon? The candidates cannot wait for the student to attend forums, meetings and discussions. They must seek out more than just student organizations. Take a tip from Senator McCain who allows reporters to ride on his campaign bus. He allows himself to be available to the public almost 24 hours a day so that the people understand his campaign. The only way to increasing student voting is to return to grass-roots style campaigning. The more students see the candidates, hear them debate in the MU, sit down and talk to students about what issues are important before they are elected, the better the chances of students voting. The candidates must realize that the majority of students commute to campus and don't attend student functions because of work or family obligations. When was the last time you saw an ASASU presidential candidate walking around ASU (and I mean all around ASU, not just in front of the MU) talking to students asking them what issues are important to them. Its time to school the ASU student government on the "bridge" to the students of ASU. If you want to be ASASU president, build it now.

Joshua Zibelman
Co-Web Editor
ASU Web Devil
asu.web.devil@asu.edu
480-727-6941

Back to the Web Devil