The excitement of ASUPS elections has hold of our campus –or at least one might have hoped for that to be the case. Instead, political apathy and general indifference have been pervasive in this year’s electoral process as Puget Sound students ignore the election as well as the candidates vying for the presidency and vice-presidency of the ASUPS executive branch.
However, the problem of our campus’ indifference to the elections has not resulted from under-exposure of the election process or the candidate’s campaigns. To the contrary, across campus you can find posters littering the walls, exposing our students to the various candidates running for ASUPS executive positions.
The Trail has even acted as a medium to inform students about the different candidates and their respective views on the specific issues that have marked this election cycle. The extensive interviews published in last week’s trail provided a detailed look into the candidates’ views on Puget Sound’s budgetary issues, community involvement plans and ideas to improve communication within the ASUPS bureaucracy.
My criticism is aimed at the student body itself and its lack of motivation to become actively involved in the election process, and not simply vote for the candidate they personally know or like from reputation alone.
The majority of this campus seems to reflect the overarching apathy present within America’s current attitude towards elections and politics.
American citizens tend to complain about government on a daily basis as if complaining alone could solve their problems with the system. Inaction and entitlement has stalled this generation of voters, as they willingly choose to waste their political power and rest on their laurels while waiting for others to take action.
This complacent attitude is appalling and reveals much of the nature of modern society. We as a political body have become neutered. As radical groups on either side of the political spectrum allow their passion to drive them toward becoming involved in electing public officials and actively supporting political interests, the moderate, independent majority remains listless, twiddling their thumbs while condemning elected officials —though the majority of Americans do not take the time to vote in public elections.
The Puget Sound student body is merely an extension of the typical political apathy currently present in the United States. I’ve heard students complain about various problems they have encountered on campus, yet these complaints never venture beyond fruitless conversations because most students are not willing to take the added measure of pursuing solutions to these problems, such as soliciting the aid of ASUPS.
The ASUPS elections are an excellent opportunity to contribute one’s voice to campus politics, an opportunity that the student body should not take for granted. These candidates are running on platforms that appeal to a wide base of students. Let the political process work by supporting the candidates who best represent your interests.
Although this election may have passed, the upcoming presidential election will present another opportunity to become an active political member of American society. It’s time to stop complaining about the state of our country or the state of our campus. Rather, we should act upon these emotions and use our right to vote in order to create the change we all desire.
Photo Courtesy / Allen Ward
