Student turnout a must in upcoming election

April 2, 2007 —

The date that this issue runs will signify the beginning of voting season for SVSU students. Student Association and Program Board have both produced interesting and compelling candidates for this years presidency. This is why we implore you to excercise your basic civic duty and vote for your future student leaders.

What makes these elections important is the fact that whichever candidate wins for their respective organization will have a strong say in what you will be doing for the next year.

Many students have complained about the lack of activity on campus during the weekends. The people in the best position to change that are those who sit as Program Board President and SA President. By not voting in the coming election, you are basically saying you are either unsatisfied with the quality of candidates, or that you don't care either way who wins, and are content to be guided by them for the next year. Whichever it is, know that you should reserve your right to complain about what events are taking place, as well as those that aren't.

At this point if you have not been following the campaigns you probably are not very familiar with what each candidate has to offer. Regardless, it is still important that you do what you can to inform yourself, possibly through back issues of the Vanguard, and vote who you think will provide you and the rest of the student body with the best leadership for the coming year.

In past years, voter turnout for SA and Program Board elections has been less than adequate. To combat this, debates were held between the Program Board and SA candidates on Wednesday in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall. The front row as filled with SA representative hopefuls, and the rest of the seating was occupied by a small number of students.

For an event that intended to better inform the student population about the candidates' respective platforms, the turnout could have, and probably should have been better

Scheduling can be a conflict for something like that - especially since it happened in the middle of a school day - but don't let the same thing happen over the next few election days.

Voting can be done online at voting.svsu.edu, at any time of the day, beginning on Monday, and lasting until Wednesday. This can be done from home, and should only take a few seconds out of your day.

So, if you are at all interested in having a voice in how your next year at SVSU will go, take that time to vote. Remember, these are the people who will be determining who comes to campus at the end of the year concert. You'll also have to talk with them if you need to have funds allocated from the University. Program Board and SA together are the strongest voices for the student population, so if you at all care about having your voice heard, cast your vote as soon as you can.