Two executive candidates for the Boston Tea Party might not be on the ballot in Thursday's Ohio University Student Senate election.
Presidential candidate Mark Morris Mecum appealed the removal of vice presidential candidate Joey Gibson and treasurer candidate Kelly Felter from the ballot because of a problem with a signature on their petitions for candidacy.
Petitions for candidacy require the signatures of 75 students. When the Student Senate election board checked the names on the petitions, they found one student, Devaughn Miree, was not listed in the Student Information System. Mecum said Miree, a friend of his, was a student Winter Quarter, dropped his enrollment, and then re-enrolled at the beginning of Spring Quarter.
Mecum appealed to the board of elections, who rejected his appeal because there was not enough information whether Miree was a student at the time of the signature. He then appealed again to Student Senate, who formed a committee to investigate the dispute. The committee ruled with the board because they did not have enough evidence that Miree was a student when he signed the petition.
Jim Hintz, chair of the board of elections, said they are still waiting to make a decision on whether the candidates will be on the ballots. Two sets of ballots have been printed: one with Gibson's and Felter's names and one without.
However, they could still be write-in candidates the day of election, if not on the ballots.
Elections face student apathy
Widespread apathy toward the Ohio University Student Senate among the student body may subside this week during elections. During the rest of the year, however, few students pay attention to the senate's activities.
Sophomore T.J. Cyders said he was unaware of voting procedures last year, and though he thinks the senate can affect minor issues on campus, like printing costs in the library, he does not know how the senate is involved on campus. They're really my voice to the administration if I have a problem with something that's going on in the university
but I don't know of anything specific that they've done Cyders said.
Others, like sophomore Katey Monk, feel that Student Senate is a popularity contest. I've been reading articles that say it's more about the race more about their image than what actually happens
she said. I don't really see one thing that sets one (party) apart from the other.
In a random survey of 52 students, 50 said they did not vote in last year's elections, and more than two thirds of those surveyed said they do not communicate with their senators, know about any of the senate's activities or know of any senate policies that have directly affected them.
However, more than half of the students surveyed said they do believe senate has an effect on campus, even if they are not quite sure what that effect is.
Senate Chief of Staff Dustin Torres said senate is an important university body. Student Senate was created to be there not really as a governing body but more as a lobbying body to represent students
he said.
Senate officers and commissioners also sit on university boards and committees. Torres said he sat on E.W. Scripps School of Journalism advisory board and the College of Communication advisory board when he was the College of Communication senator.
The senate is made of 12 commissions, ranging from academic affairs to off-campus living to women's affairs. There are also three standing committees for rules and procedures, for conduct and discipline and for budget. The Student Activities Commission, which distributes funding to campus groups, is also a part of Student Senate. Senators represent every college and green, and there are also at-large representatives.
However, senate does not create or vote on university policy. Senators are simply representatives for the student body. Student Senate doesn't have a vote in the decisions that are made in the university
Torres said, but we certainly have a voice
and I think it's a respected voice.
Senators draft resolutions almost every week to recommend changes or courses of action to university officials. In the past, senate resolutions have recommended a student fee to go toward the new student center and requested that the bike path lights remain on all night. Both were successfully implemented at higher levels.
The biggest barrier I've seen is that I don't think that it's very easy to inform students
Torres said. They're bombarded every week with information
their own schedules. What Student Senate is doing right now isn't even on the radar.
Don't just take your popsicles and walk away when you're being bombarded with these campaigns
he said. There are really important issues at stake
and you want to choose people that are going to be in your corner for the next year because the people who are going to be elected are entering a 24-hour job. Under the stickers and buttons
