Student Government should engage USC in process, initiatives
Last night’s results from the Student Government president and treasurer races were both highly entertaining and somewhat embarrassing.
Let us not forget that a total of 29,334 students are currently enrolled at the Columbia campus and are able to vote in the SG elections. A grand total of 3,069 votes were cast in the student body presidential race and 2,961 in the race for treasurer. I may not be majoring in statistics, but that is approximately 10 percent — for each race — of the student body voting in the elections.
SG must move forward in a fashion that would encourage more participation by actual students. Let’s face it — when the vast majority is not even voting for its representation, the majority is not being represented. The candidates need to appear and speak more publicly to students around the campus about issues that are truly affecting them.
After the third accusation of an elections violation in two days, Kenny Tracy’s candidacy is being closely watched by both students and election commission members. This kind of news does not help SG in its quest for growth; if anything, it hurts the credibility of candidates and erodes the process that we have in place to elect student officials.
Kenneth Bragg, who literally saved Yousef Ibreak’s campaign by writing himself in as a candidate for treasurer, was the sole reason for a runoff in the treasurer race. This just goes to show that every student has a voice in this race and cannot be counted out. Ibreak’s platform of transparency in SG funding to organizations has been the main reason for his support, and there is something to be admired about a candidate for treasurer who is willing to put the budget online for all to see. Thanks to Bragg, that platform will live on another week.
I cannot leave out our vice president elect. Chase Mizzell has been the saving grace for SG this year. Running uncontested, his focus on the issues has resonated around campus, and that was cemented last night when he won 99.9 percent of the vote. The fact that he has also stayed out of the presidential race by not endorsing a candidate and allowing the process to play out will prove a wise decision in the end for Mizzell — if he hopes to enjoy any sort of cooperation with the next president.
SG could really be a much more effective organization on campus if it could only reach out to more students. Transparency and openness would be required for this to even occur. The controversy surrounding SG must come to a stop. More candidates like Mizzell are needed to get SG back on the right track.