Are you excited about the upcoming Student Government elections? Eager to make a change? Do you get stoked when you think about passing bills and political intrigue?
Perhaps you should consider running for a seat in the Student Senate.
Unlike running for city, state or national office, becoming a candidate for SG is a fairly open and easy process. You don’t have to shake the right hands and ceaselessly stroke the proper party apparati for years to get into a fruitful position. For SG, all you have to do is qualify, then slate.
What, pray tell, does that process entail?
Qualifying and slating started Sunday, but if you haven’t gone yet, don’t worry. The process will continue today from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All that’s required of you is to head over to the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom at some point within those time periods.
In the ballroom, you’ll be asked to fill out paperwork and display your Gator 1 Card — you know, to prove you’re a student here. That’s the “qualifying” bit — proving you’re eligible to run for a seat. When the paperwork has been filled and your identity as a student has been confirmed, you’ll be able to slate, which is SG parlance for making the choice of which party you want to run with.
There are several political parties to choose from. Of course, the Swamp and Access parties are the clear forerunners. The number of candidates who slated Sunday are divided almost evenly between them, but keep in mind: They’re not the only parties to choose from. Seven other registered parties are available for slating, so if you’re feeling light-hearted, consider slating for the Pants Party or the Keg Party.
Running for office is a great honor and privilege, no matter which party you may end up slating for. Arguably, running for a seat is an even more important linchpin of our democracy than voting, seeing as the electorate needs candidates to vote for.
It’s for this reason that we at the Alligator urge you to go out and slate. It’s for the good of the student body and the university that you do. Participation at this level is the highest service a person can give.
Seriously, we hate to get all cheesy on you, but this is important. We’ll stoop to hurling “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” and all that inspirational babble at you if that’s what it takes. Now, more than ever, individual participation can help make a positive difference. We’d do it ourselves, but we’re pretty sure the journalism ethics gods would smite us where we sit if we did.
Sure, it’d be much easier to smugly declare it all to be a racket, but that attitude won’t accomplish anything at all. But going for a seat? That’s a different story.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 2/2/2015 under the headline “No matter which party, consider slating"]
