While I ultimately agree with The Beacon writer who calls the incessant campaigning by Greeks a nuisance [Alex Sorondo’s article published on April 9, 2012 — read it online at www.fiusm.com], let me first start by giving some credit where it is due.
From personal experience, Greeks actually do care about the real issues at hand in an election.
As some of the most involved students on campus, Greeks lead or are involved with many of the entities that receive the A&S fees that SGA controls, and have real opinions and concerns about how the fees should be used.
The problem is that all of this real passion is diluted from detailed campaign platforms down to the absolutely annoying “hey do you have a minute to vote on my iPad while I watch you” campus canvassing that everyone hates.
This won’t stop as long as it is allowed, because it is easiest way to get votes, and as long as one campaign does it, the other campaigns have to, or else they will face inevitable defeat.
Instead of gloating about our increase in voter turnout, SGA’s advisors should be looking critically at how those votes are being obtained, and how to instill integrity into the election process.
There should be more campaign-free zones like the one outside the GC computer labs, and while campaigns should certainly be free to have tables around campus to provide information about their platforms and to allow people to vote, they should not be allowed to wander around with laptops and iPad harassing students for votes.
It would be nice if the Greek community would come together and make this happen voluntarily, but with millions of dollars on the line, it just may be too much to ask.
-Eric Feldman, Graduate Student, Master of Science in Higher Education Administration
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