La Voz

Issue date: 4/24/06 Section: Editorials

(Left to right) Dan Sealana, David Gunderson, Kayla Hilton, Robert Balicki, Ruth Tepper and Katherine Nguyen.

It looks like the student election committee has done something right this year. There will actually be some competition this year for senator seats, and only two candidates are running unopposed during this year's student elections.

The Chewbacca and Lord of The Rings cardboard cutouts around campus must have worked.

But with the De Anza Student Body Elections coming up soon, the student senate and the candidates running have one important job: to convince us why we should care.

Last year, the elections had to be extended because they didn't meet the minimum number of votes required. If a school with more than 22,000 students needs to beg and plead just to get a few hundred people to vote, there's a problem. Whether the DASB senate wants to face it or not, most students simply don't care about the elections.

To its credit, the DASB has several events planned this week to bring attention to the elections and to introduce students to the candidates.

Today and on Tuesday there will be election "Open Forums" at the Patio Stage, where candidates will have the chance to outline their platforms.

The DASB will also have a candidate information table in the Campus Center on Wednesday, and will host a "Meet Your Candidate" event on Thursday.

For those who can't attend any of those events, the DASB should provide an "Easy Voter Guide" for students. It would be a pamphlet listing each candidate and what his or her stance on particular issues is.

Students may be inspired to vote by agreeing or completely disagreeing with a candidate's platform.

During this year's election campaigning, candidates need to strive to clearly distinguish themselves from other candidates. Instead of giving us the same tired token speeches about "promoting diversity" on campus, candidates need to tell students why we should make a point to vote for them instead of just voting for the person who has the most posters up around campus.

The most important thing candidates could do during this year's elections is talk to the students directly. They need to challenge themselves to go outside their of their DASB clique and get a wide variety of student opinions.

Candidates would benefit from getting input not just from students studying in the library, but the people smoking hookah in the parking lot.

The DASB senate needs figure out a way to make the elections and student government relevant and important to average students - not just the DASB groupies who loiter around the senate office all day.

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