All of us know them. We may even be friends with one or two of them. They are pretentious Student Government candidates, often freshmen in the School of Public Affairs, who think they'll be U.S. senators in 20 years. We also all know that they are the scourge of the SG.
Many candidates in the field have campaigns without much substance. Typically, they have a "ton of ideas" that are never explained and will be very open to suggestions from their peers once elected, like Emily Beyer, running for the 2011 Senate seat. Genuine candidates tell you their positions on issues before you vote for them so you can determine if they are the candidate that best represents your views. Candidates who don't hold any belief about policy either are not fit to run for SG office or are deliberately withholding their views on the issues.
Or take Jack Weingart, running for the 2011 seat as well. His platform is to "represent our class and to make sure the students have a voice on campus," and that is all. Candidates like Jack are just trying to please everyone, and in the process of doing so, end up looking really ignorant of the fact that there are actually any issues on campus worth mentioning, like, say, our environmental footprint, smoking on campus, the lack of diversity of socioeconomic background and opinion within the SG, the shuttle bus drivers' unionization effort and the resignation of the SG secretary.
Some candidates have substance to their campaigns, but often those positions are diametrically opposed to positions supported by the majority of the student body.
Nick Troiano, for example, has stated that he opposed the SG resolution to support the shuttle bus drivers' unionization effort, claiming the SG should stay out of an active dispute between the AU administration and the National Labor Relations Board. However, the SG constitution reads, in part, "The purpose of the Undergraduate Senate shall be to represent, legislate and delineate policies regarding the concerns of the American University undergraduate student body with regards to academics, programming and university policy."
I believe that Troiano's reasoning is false as the efforts of the AU administration to obstruct the shuttle bus drivers' unionization is a student concern (more than 800 students signed a petition calling on the university to halt its obstructionist lawsuits) regarding university policy. In addition, Joe Vidulich, president of the SG, and 11 out of 13 SG senators believe unequivocally that this is an issue within the purview of the SG. It is Troiano's views that are out-of-line with the majority.
Furthermore, Troiano said that if the SG Senate does believe that the issue is within its jurisdiction, it should have passed a resolution supporting AU's lawsuits since unionization will mean higher wages for the drivers, and therefore less money for other programs. I believe that as students, we do not want to cynically advance our own interests at the great expense of others. I believe that we are better than that. I believe the fact that more than half of us are majoring in disciplines related to selfless public service means that the AU student body generally has an altruistic outlook.
I don't have an opinion about for whom you should vote, but I do believe that you should vote against certain candidates that exemplify the pretentious, self-serving, nit-picking attitude in the SG of which all of us are sick and tired. A vote against these candidates is a vote for raising the level of relevancy and integrity of the SG.
Pretentious SG candidates: What a travesty.
Travis MacArthur is a senior in the School of International Service and an AU/local politics columnist for The Eagle.
