Campaign Week ?

Well as one section of our campaign is complete, we are now entering the second section of campaigning regarding class officers, senate elections, and this special case RUN-OFF for the S.R.B.O.V. position. The election is tomorrow Thursday April 10th from 7am-7pm on the sga website : http://sga.jmu.edu

So the funny thing about student government elections is that there is normally a competition between people already within the system, vying for the head positions of President, VPSA (vice president of student affairs), and VPAA (vice president of academic affairs). The general rule to winning elections with our lack of care for voting and representation creates a scenario where if you win the senate, then you win the election. This however is becoming less and less of a rule of thumb since it seems that the individuals who succeed in elections are merely those individuals that are stupendous net workers and can get people to do things for them. This comes from activities on campus, social networks, organizations, image, and drive. I think that anyone in an Greek organization, saferides, ambassadors, anyone who was a frog or OPA, or anyone involved with other such organizations have an easy time staying connected, since there are amazing lines of communication within these organizations. It is also interesting that these organizations do a lot for students, and so there are many ways to reach out and get your name out there.

I think it wouldn't be hard to create a sketch of the hierarchy of this campus, and there are a lot of overlapping faces and organizations that are apparent in SGA, in Ambassadors, and these types of orgs. The key to being a leader or public figure lies in the image that you create for yourself, and the very first characteristics that you TRY to get people to see would be ones of leadership, responsibility, and a genuine compassion for some facet of life. That equation equals success, and so we make ourselves follow these steps and become something we are not sometimes. Do all these people that are here for the students really care for everyone ? Do we really do justice to the term constituency ?

There are power brokers on campus that have sucked influence into the hands of a few, and this is something that unfortunately makes for a dismal future. We need diversity in our candidates running for positions, we need competition so that we chose the best candidate, we need different kinds of people from different aspects of the campus in our senate, and seldom do we accomplish this since we have given in to the big organizations to foster our paths for social success through leadership roles. We give up so much of who we are to appeal to everyone so we can be liked, and at the end of the day we get the position we want, we fill in the resume we dream of, we create the connections needed to get our pictures on the Madison Magazine, and we are active enough a name drop in the The Breeze publication.

We prepare everything of who we are to campaign for a week for a position, and at the end of that week or two of elections, you go back to being in your niche and you aren't out there talking to students all over campus. Once the votes are tallied, your life lies in the hands of the numbers. If you win then you get the job and you are no where to be found; If you loose, you are no where to be found. So the next time you see someone out on campus with their pretty clothes to match their pretty face, remember to take a good look because you might not see them again for a while...

Our two school motto's are "Be the Change" and " All together one" is it me or isn't that just ridiculous?!?!?!?!?