I completely neglected to write blog posts last semester. I blame it on having a heavy course load and being wrapped up in a bunch of other things. And finally, two months into the new semester, I have time to sit back and reflect. Lucky for you!
Student Government elections is a conflicting time for me. It's exciting because the leaders we elect next week will be the ones spearheading initiatives that bring real change for students at this university. Then again, the campaigning can get a little over-the-top, and there are still many students who view it all as a big popularity contest. And I don't blame them.
So today I'm going to take some time to look at the slates' platforms. I'm not going to try to tell you which platform is better. I just want to make a point about a lot of the commonalities as well one missing, but very important, issue.
You can take a look at the Beer Shah platform here and the Coleman Pfriem platform here.
Student Government elections is a conflicting time for me. It's exciting because the leaders we elect next week will be the ones spearheading initiatives that bring real change for students at this university. Then again, the campaigning can get a little over-the-top, and there are still many students who view it all as a big popularity contest. And I don't blame them.
So today I'm going to take some time to look at the slates' platforms. I'm not going to try to tell you which platform is better. I just want to make a point about a lot of the commonalities as well one missing, but very important, issue.
You can take a look at the Beer Shah platform here and the Coleman Pfriem platform here.
Observation #1: The platforms are very similar
There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the platforms. Areas like athletics, spirit, diversity, safety, sustainability, collaboration, and (of course) academics are well represented in both platforms. Here are a couple of examples of ideas shared between platforms:
When you break it down, you can see that the platforms aren't really all that different. There are some differences in specifics, true. But really, the most important take-away from the platforms is: what are the priorities? And we can see that by and large, the slates are focusing on the same issues.
Here's some food for thought... what are they missing?
Observation #2: Where's affordability?
Safety has been a hot issue at UC for a while now. Diversity has been a huge topic of conversation this year, and sustainability has grown to be an important tenet of any platform. These are important issues facing our community. But meanwhile, it seems like a new study comes out every other day that finds that students are graduating with more debt than ever.
There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the platforms. Areas like athletics, spirit, diversity, safety, sustainability, collaboration, and (of course) academics are well represented in both platforms. Here are a couple of examples of ideas shared between platforms:
- More off-campus lighting
- Water bottle refilling stations
- Busing to PBS for football games next year
- Diversity in recruitment
- Easier NightRide scheduling
- International student outreach
- UC spirit in Clifton area
When you break it down, you can see that the platforms aren't really all that different. There are some differences in specifics, true. But really, the most important take-away from the platforms is: what are the priorities? And we can see that by and large, the slates are focusing on the same issues.
Here's some food for thought... what are they missing?
Observation #2: Where's affordability?
Safety has been a hot issue at UC for a while now. Diversity has been a huge topic of conversation this year, and sustainability has grown to be an important tenet of any platform. These are important issues facing our community. But meanwhile, it seems like a new study comes out every other day that finds that students are graduating with more debt than ever.
Where's our focus for making college for affordable?
It's not that I think that neither of the slates care about affordability. But the omission of this HUGE issue facing each and every one of our students does make a statement. Maybe it's not as "cool" as some other campaign points. More likely, it was simply forgotten. It's not a priority.
But it needs to be.
We need to step up and make college affordability a priority. We need to find ways to reduce textbook costs for students as well as eliminate waste and redundancy. These are big issues that won't take care of themselves. Student government and its new soon-to-be-elected leaders need to commit to tackling the college affordability problem.
Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to increase next year's room & board costs by 2%. More food for thought.
But it needs to be.
We need to step up and make college affordability a priority. We need to find ways to reduce textbook costs for students as well as eliminate waste and redundancy. These are big issues that won't take care of themselves. Student government and its new soon-to-be-elected leaders need to commit to tackling the college affordability problem.
Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to increase next year's room & board costs by 2%. More food for thought.