Tackling election inefficiencies so your vote counts

Hey Tartans. Welcome to the second Presidential Perspectives! We’re going to update you, the campus community, on our activities. (That means there’s actually stuff to update you on!)

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been settling into informal discussions, meetings, and action plans that will shape the direction of the programs we hope to leave as our legacy. We’ve been eager to dig into the work, and the question that everyone seems to have is “What are you guys hitting on first?” Our first point of business has nothing to do with the CMU 5, because we didn’t think it would be as pressing an issue as it became during the whole campaign process. “OH NO! They’re already pulling the political wiggle-jiggle dance!” Not really. We don’t flake.

We just have some larger issues to address first. Elections should run as smoothly as possible for several reasons, the most important of which is that we as constituents need faith in the system that puts campus leadership in place. Without knowing that votes will count, why even raise your voice in the first place? We view it as our responsibility to fix the system to best suit everyone’s needs. With help from our friends Vice President of Finance Joel Bergstein, Graduate Student Association President Beth Ayers, and Senate Chair Jared Itkowitz, we’re in the process of creating a committee composed equally of Graduate Student Assembly Representatives and undergraduate Student Senators that will cover everything from whether online balloting is the best way to go to when voting should take place and what backup plans to have. Soon, we’ll have a feasible resolution on how future elections will run.

As this is the time of year that many of us are interviewing for jobs or internships, I wanted to give you a little brainteaser closer this week:

Imagine yourself walking down a hallway to a first round, mentally prepared for the indecent badgering that lies ahead. When you reach the end of this hallway, you see two doors and a kindly older gentleman guarding them. There is a sign in front of the old man that reads: “Your first test from Company X is whether or not you can figure out which of these two doors leads to your interview. You are allowed one question that the kind, older gentleman standing here will answer. You’ll then pick one door to go through. You have to keep in mind, though, that this old man either lies all the time or always tells the truth.”

What do you ask him? (cmu5@cmu.edu)