Students weigh in on an uncontested election

Jonathan Ramos/Staff Writer

Photo by Andres Bedoya

To some, the unchallenged ticket of Pablo Haspel and Oluwatobi Adekoya leaves something to be desired in the elections process. Senior international relations major Maria Reynaga thinks a contested election would have offered more.

“It would have been nice. Just because I feel like there would be more things happening,” said Reynaga. “I don’t even see the point of campaigning. It’s not fun, even if you’re the candidate yourself.”

Although Reynaga said she supports the candidates, she felt that the Modesto Maidique Campus had “real campaigning.”

The election was nearly a contested one when Adekoya’s request to split the ticket and form a ticket of his own along with Olwatamilore Odimayo was granted, but the SGC-BBC Supreme Court reversed the decision on March 26.

Some were not even aware the election was taking place.

“We as students should know more about who’s running and what the goals are,” junior hospitality major Daniel Rozo said. “But I didn’t know. There should be more events that are attractive to students, not just emails that we never read.”

Rozo, who previously attended Miami Dade College, said he was always aware of elections there.

“I used to go to MDC and I would hear about it,” he said. “They had setups and speeches from what I remember, every semester.”

According to a sign in sheet, 23 people attended the candidate debates in Panther Square on April 2, a lower number than secretary of SGC-BBC George Simpson expected.

“A lot of people don’t come to events unless there is free food, but there also could have been more promotion,” Simpson said.

SGC-BBC announced the event with posters around campus and an email, but the interest still underwhelmed.

For junior hospitality major Walter Diaz, it’s a matter of time.

“We’re so busy,” Diaz said, who takes all of his classes online. “I’m a full time worker and a full time student.

This is the second consecutive year of uncontested elections at SGC-BBC, with Denise Halpin and Emilio Collyer acquiring presidential ticket.