I am sure that most students are aware that elections for Undergraduate Assembly and class boards are under way. Even if you have missed the e-mails about voting, the Get Out the Vote party on College Green today and the stories in the DP, you must have noticed the sudden appearance of campaign signs on every tree, lamp pole and kiosk on campus. Even if you ignored all of these signs, you are reading this column, so now you know. So, if students know elections are occurring, why don't people vote?
The Nominations and Elections Committee tracks voter turnout, and in past elections it has been approximately 40 percent, a truly pathetic number when you consider how easy it is to vote; all you have to do is sign on to Penn inTouch. The only conclusion I can come to about why this number is so low is that people do not think that student government does anything. As someone who has been involved in student government for four years and who has dedicated a great deal of his college career to it, I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.
Let's take the UA first. The UA is the elected representative body of student government that lobbies the administration on behalf of students. In addition, the UA is responsible for distributing money for student activities. That means the money for everything from Spring Fling to preceptorials. The members of the UA have to make decisions about how to allocate this money, deciding whether more money should go toward getting a bigger name for the Fling concert, developing new preceptorials or any of the other programs that student government runs.
Maybe you don't care about preceptorials or who is playing at the Spring Fling concert, but I am sure you are in some student activity that receives funding from the Student Activities Council. If that is the case, then you too are affected by the decisions of the UA because SAC is funded by the UA, and every dollar that goes into concerts and preceptorials and all of the other events and programs run by student government means one less dollar for a student organization.
But distributing money is only a small part of what the UA does and how it affects your college experience. If you have ever eaten in a dining hall, lived in a college house, or used off-campus study space, then you have been affected by the UA. In the coming year the UA will be working on projects ranging from advising the administration on what to do with the newly acquired postal lands to how to implement a music file-sharing program.
As for the class boards, well I have five words -- Skimmer, Hey Day, Senior Week -- and that's just the beginning of what the class boards do.
Still think student government doesn't do anything? If you do, then I respect your decision not to vote, but if not, you have an obligation to make your voice heard by voting. But don't just vote for the person with the best slogan or the nicest posters; take an opportunity to speak to the candidates and find out where they stand on issues that matter to you. The DP is providing an excellent service this year by providing a Web site where voters can learn more about the candidates, including which groups on campus have endorsed them. Once you are informed, sign on to Penn inTouch and vote. It's just that simple.
