For the first time in three years, only one person cared enough to file for student body treasurer.
This all but ensures the outcome that Ian Shannon, a second-year finance and GSCOM student, will hold that position in the 2015-2016 school year.
There are many reasons that might be behind this refusal to participate, but they all boil down to three potential factors: a student-wide deferral, a lack of qualification among potential candidates or, finally, plain old apathy.
The first possibility is that qualified would-be candidates simply made a collective choice to defer to Shannon. He is known as an imposing central figure when it comes to SG financial issues, and his contributions to SG budget proposals are many and substantial. Anyone running against him might have had an uphill battle, at least on campaign issues like SG involvement and experience.
Or it could boil down to a simple lack of potential qualified applicants. Much of the budget legwork in SG is performed by the Finance Committee, of which Shannon chairs, which is a relatively small pool compared to the total number of SG members. Perhaps few students sought out the necessary schooling in SG finances.
The third — and most depressing — option is that Shannon was the only one who felt compelled enough to fill out the paperwork.
Whatever the case, the fact that only one person applied for Student Body Treasurer is a bad omen for both SG and USC as a whole.
All races, from the U.S. presidential contest on down, are about comparing and contrasting different narratives and letting the voters decide on which one is closest to the truth.
With only one person running, that decision is made for us — unless, of course, a write-in candidate disrupts the election at the final hour. (Kenneth Bragg, anyone?)
We're not saying Shannon is unqualified in any way. He very well might have been the right choice, even in a situation where multiple candidates ran.
But without someone else to challenge Shannon, the student body has only one narrative to follow and little choice other than to trust that Shannon is the right guy for the job.