Upcoming election will determine your spending

March 17, 2008 —

SPEND YOUR OWN MONEY -

Student Association's presidential elections begin next week, and most candidates have already started campaigning for your attention and for your votes. The president wields a fair deal of influence at the University, having the final say over where some of your money goes.

This has become somewhat obligatory over the years, but we urge all SVSU students to vote in the upcoming elections, for the reasons listed above.

Student Association gets 60 cents per credit hour as part of the General Service Fee, a portion of tuition that goes to support the operations of SA, Program Board, the Vanguard, and Cardinal Sins, our sister publication.

The organization's yearly budget is about $127,000, which consists entirely of tuition money.

It uses a lot of that money to sponsor events geared toward SVSU students, some of which are annual affairs (Battle of the Valleys, Relay for Life). Many of them are quite costly, a good example being the Valentine's Day dance at the Temple Theater.

SA lost around $11,000 on the Valentine's Day dance, a portion of which it had budgeted for. But most of the money that it lost came as a surprise. See the Feb. 25 issue of the Vanguard for a full report.

So not only does SA receive a good amount of your money, it's not always spent responsibly. That's not to say that the money is wasted, but it's evident that it's not always utilized to the best effect.

SVSU students all have a say in how this plays out. You can vote, for one.

And you can let SA know what you think. The organization has people whose duty it is to hear students out. If you're unsatisfied with the way your money is being spent, tell them. You have an outlet in the Vanguard, too, if you submit a letter to the editor.

We argue these points every year because turnout for the presidential elections is generally abysmal.

We argued last year that this might be because the election system itself might be inappropriate for the task of electing a student of great responsibility: If the election comes down to a popularity contest, does the most qualified candidate usually get the job?

Historically, it hasn't been a problem. There have been no emperors that sing while Rome burns.

But would a competitive appointment process serve as a guarantor for good leadership in student government? We think it's possible.

Yet, there are still elections and there is still a president to elect. If you are at all concerned about how your money is spent, we strongly urge you to vote or otherwise make your voice heard in the upcoming presidential elections.

Even if the only time you spend on campus is in the classroom, SA gets your money.

Even if you don't plan on ever belonging to any club or participating in any activity besides playing Halo in your bedroom, SA gets your money.

Even if you actively ignore the goings-on about campus, SA gets your money (and even if you never read the Vanguard, we get your money too.)

No matter what you do, SA gets some of your money. So please, vote. And if you don't, let them know why you don't particularly care how your money is spent.