Stay informed, keep an eye on the issues and don’t let the free goodies and pretty T-shirts woo your vote.
Student Senate campaign season begins Monday, and over the next 24 days you’re likely to be bombarded by fliers, T-shirts, free food and people harassing you outside Baker Center. As a graduating senior and a former presidential candidate for senate, here is my guide to surviving this year’s Student Senate campaign season.
Traditionally, senate campaigns are an inconvenience to the average student because we already know who is going to win the election by the first day of campaigning. At least since I have been here, the winning ticket has always came down to who has been in senate the longest, spent the most money, had the brightest-colored T-shirts and gave out the most free food.
That’s a lot of fuss for an organization that less than 10 percent of the student body voted for last year and hasn’t done much to aggressively question tuition raises, the “OHIO Guarantee” and the lack of shared governance at Ohio University.
What’s different about this year is that there are three tickets running, and all of them probably have a decent chance of winning. Two of the tickets, One and Action, are run by current Student Senate members, whereas the third ticket, Restart, is led by people from outside senate, primarily members of the Student Union.
What likely won’t change is the narrative: two tickets running on their experience in senate versus a ticket advocating for radically changing how student government is structured.
The presidential candidates of the two largest parties would seem to follow this narrative. Jordan Ballinger, the candidate for One, ran VOICE’s campaign last year and helped former President Nick Southall get elected; Megan Marzec, running with Restart, was arrested last year protesting a tuition hike at a Board of Trustees meeting.
I also encourage you to keep up with The Post’s coverage, read the parties’ platforms and go to the debates. Understandably, you may not care about senate, but campaign season is unique because it is the one time of the year current members of senate are forced to publicly engage in constructive dialogue about issues larger than dressing up in costumes to “celebrate” international cultures or deliberating over senator emeritus rules.
And lastly, if nothing else, make sure to take as much free stuff as you can during the next 24 days, but under no circumstance should you feel compelled to vote for someone because they gave you a freeze pop.
Matt Farmer is a senior studying political science and education. How do you feel about Student Senate campaign season? Email him at mf291209@ohiou.edu.
