It’s that time of year again at San Diego State. Plywood signs are freshly painted with names and clever variations of well-known slogans. Volunteers are distributing cards to promote candidates, and The Daily Aztec is dedicating a section of the front page to address candidate platforms.
Yes, it’s Associated Students voting season.
A position on A.S. council is tough and unappreciated to say the least. These students have power over policy and are in charge of an $18 million budget. A.S. oversees all student union fees and represents the entire SDSU student body. Every year, these important seats go up for grabs, and this week, each student can vote for candidates to fill these positions.
And I couldn’t care less.
A.S. actions and accomplishments go largely unnoticed. Think about it; how many people do you know who can name one thing – besides the recent “Modern Space” referendum – that the current A.S. council has done? Can you name all the current council members, their positions and their duties?
These questions are posed not to demean A.S. but to demonstrate that, even though A.S. plays an important role at SDSU, most of our peers are usually unable to answer these relatively simple student government questions. Worse, by A.S.’ own count, voter turnout is a dismal average of about 10 percent of the SDSU student body.
So, why don’t we care? Pure and simple, we’re college students, and what goes on in the A.S. boardroom is the last thing on our minds. A disproportionate amount of college students didn’t even bother to vote in the last national election, so trying to compel involvement in a school election is a long shot.
Most students don’t care about yet another candidate promising to “give us a voice” or freeze parking permit fees. If they want to get our attention, then they should mention something we “care” about – such as an on-campus beer garden.
A.S. is somewhat political, and government affairs hardly appeal to most students at this point in their lives.
Most students are unfamiliar with what our representatives do or who the current candidates running for office are. We don’t care enough to do research and deeply dissect their campaigns. Caring takes time and energy – both of which are better spent filling out our March Madness brackets than on researching the race for A.S. positions.
Our lack of interest in something so vital stems from this simple fact: When it comes to A.S., we’ve heard it all before – this year’s group of career politicians is no different. Their platforms are different enough to appear unique, yet similar enough so as not to alienate a prospective voter. All of the candidates are “experts,” and all of them are going to “overhaul” the California State University system.
Unfortunately, students don’t believe A.S. can fulfill any of its promises, and this leads to indifference. Although most of the candidates are qualified, they also make long-winded promises that will inevitably encounter miles of CSU red tape.
Maybe we let the A.S. election year pass us by because it resembles a high school popularity contest. The most qualified candidate isn’t necessarily going to win – the student with the most friends, acquaintances and coolest slogan for his or her campaign will.
However, those who do care are given a short amount of time to analyze the candidates. Plus, they have limited opportunities to engage with runners. A week of official campaigning, along with a few plywood signs and a debate on the Free Speech Steps hardly constitutes as enough information to make a decision.
It’s pointless for students to feign interest in something that many people don’t care about.
Regardless of the powerful role A.S. holds on campus, students will still feel the same way they did during last year’s A.S. elections: indifferent and apathetic.
-Matt Cerezo is a marketing senior.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, major and year in school.
