My Letter to CM Life: Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Several of you have asked me to publish my letter which I sent to CM Life concerning the upcoming SGA elections.

Probably deciding not to publish it for petty and rather hair-brained reasons (typical,) CM Life did the student body a disservice by not publishing it. Not that it was an earth-shattering letter by any standard of earth-shattering letter writing, it still had a lot of insights into the rather embarassing and glaring problems SGA has in its election rules and credential timing schedule.

Without further delay, my letter to the editor...dated 25 February 2009.

I would like to respond to something that I found to be both irregular and somewhat shady in my view concerning the rapidly-upcoming SGA elections.

Today, a friend of mine expressed a wish to run for an office in the SGA. I told this person that if they felt like they could make a meaningful and worthwhile difference at Central Michigan University by participating in student government, then I will be behind them 100%. A few minutes ago, this same friend came back to me with a defeated and forlorn look on their face and said, "I don't know exactly how I am going to do it, but amongst other things, I need fifty signatures by March 4th to be placed on the ballot as a Senate candidate!"

At the time of this writing (February 25th, 2009) that’s only seven days from now!

Smelling a rat, this prompted me to look at the rules pertaining to the number of signatures one has to collect in order to be a candidate for CMU’s SGA "at-large" offices, located on SGA’s website. Let's say you want to be on a ticket as Vice President with your friend as President and you just decided to do this oh…let’s say today; you'd need to collect 300 signatures (complete with their global ID and their printed and signed name) by “February 29, 2009!”

First off, as we well-educated college students know, 2009 is NOT A LEAP YEAR!

Secondly, the SGA, somewhat lazily in my view, recycled the 2008 election rules sheet (it’s even listed as “2009 Election Rules” on SGA's website!) This may cause some consternation and/or bewilderment to those who are thinking about becoming candidates in 2009. I know I would not want to be a member of a legislative body who may think that 2009 is a leap year or for that matter would not draw up a CURRENT election rules sheet.

Thirdly, collecting 300 signatures to be place on the ballot in a week is no easy undertaking, especially on this campus. As a matter of fact, it’s virtually a miracle that anyone can be placed on the ballot in the first place, if we are to go by just CMU’s 2008 SGA election vote totals. I suggest that whatever SGA committee is responsible for the elections this year, that they should revise their online election rule sheet to be up to date.

What is perhaps more important than this, they should also reconsider the candidate signature deadline and, if possible, all of the other deadlines at least a couple of weeks to perhaps the 18th of March or thereabouts. This would give people who would consider a run for office ample time to decide and procure the proper paperwork, and fulfill the essential requirements. It is my hope that someone in SGA will care enough to draw up a bill that would provide for such changes or changes of a comparable nature.

Because my friend would make a grand SGA senator!

~Lee Nelson,
Saint Louis senior.

....NelsOnline.