Tomorrow marks the TCU Presidential elections, which this year promises a spirited contest between current TCU Treasurer Jeff Katzin and TCU Vice President Rafi Goldberg. This year's candidates boast two different and interesting platforms, pitting Goldberg's "TCU Tomorrow" campaign against Katzin's "JUMBO changes." In order for the winner to have the proper mandate to lead the Tufts community, however, it is important for Jumbos to vote in large numbers. Increased turnout over last year's less than 30 percent will show the new president and the entire senate that the student body is ready, willing and able to hold its leaders responsible.
One of the perpetual banes of student government on the Hill is the persistence of student apathy, as manifested in low voter turnout and uncontested elections. In the elections held less than two weeks ago, only the Senate seats for the Class of 2008 were contested; in contrast, representatives for the classes of 2006 and 2007, as well as the student positions on the Committee on Student Life (CSL) and the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ), were running unopposed.
Students should be profoundly troubled by the lack of a contest for both the CSL and the TCUJ, which wield a large amount of power in the student judiciary and group recognition process. Students who think about complaining in the next year about any problems with these two groups (as well as two Senate classes) should first question whether the lack of competition in elections has led to these problems. If we expect student government to be truly responsive to student needs we need to make them fight for their representative seats.
At the same time, students need to show up to those fights: in this case the recent elections for the Class of 2008 Senate seats, which saw a 59 percent turnout, could serve as a model. We can reasonably expect these senators to serve the interests of their classmates well (or at least better) since they were vetted by a large part of their class.
Likewise, students must turn out in force tomorrow, to send a clear message to the victor that student voices matter. This is good for the students, who will be demonstrating both increased interest in student government and increased concern for good governance. A president elected with a large turnout cannot easily ignore the voices of the crowd to pursue personal projects and priorities; he will need to have his ear to the ground at all times.
The next president will also emerge stronger with a large turnout, being able to claim a true mandate with which to seek out new and creative solutions for the problems that confront the student body. He will have increased leverage with the administration and with local officials in his capacity of representing a student body that is both large and diverse. Let's have him represent a student body that is large, diverse, and, most importantly, interested.
