Uniting forces to combat student complacency

Carnival is our greatest tradition at Carnegie Mellon. Yes, we really do get days off for this. This is our homecoming, our big celebration. And believe me, you don’t want to miss it.

During Carnival, you will most likely see some of our candidates for student government campaigning. You should think about voting for the candidates who seem like they’ll do the best job, and who care enough to try to get your vote.

Both Senate and Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) have really done a fantastic job this past semester (the best we’ve ever seen, by a long shot). This is largely because of the people who have elected to join student government this past year, as well as new leadership. We cannot state strongly enough the impact Joel Bergstein and Beth Ayers have made as Senate Chair and GSA President, respectively. And, even better, they are supported by the strongest Executive Committee chairs we’ve seen. Senate and GSA committees are the new face of student government.

But, no matter how praiseworthy, these efforts are simply not enough. Officials become complacent when getting elected is definitely a sure thing. If you don’t know the candidates, ask why, and make it your responsibility to find out. Vote for leaders who will not only get things done but who will also make student government a more visible part of campus.

We’re proud to have served as your executives for the past year. We dramatically increased student government’s visibility and we got a lot done along the way. But what we could do won’t be good enough. The next execs must continue to raise the bar for student leaders. Execs should not limit their goals — they should be continual problem solvers looking to meet any goals their students want them to achieve.

The next execs should not be as involved, as issue-driven, or as active as us. They should be more so. Vote for the candidates who are competent, who will make an impact, and who will bring even greater visibility to student government.

At Carnegie Mellon, we work hard and we play hard. The last thing we should do is forget it all and slide backward into complacency. So, after Carnival is over, when you sit down to check your e-mail and hit the books, make sure you take the time to VOTE. Take time to consider candidates’ platforms and most important issues. Then vote wisely next Tuesday, April 24 through Wednesday, April 25 at elections.andrew.cmu.edu.