Unfortunately, it is extremely common for the students at Ohio University to feel apathetic toward or just not know anything about what our Student Senate does. I too felt this way until I really looked into what they stand for.
From what I have observed, it seems if they feel like they are more qualified than the rest of us and deserve the power to speak for all of the students at this university. The One and Action tickets both have this mentality; is this the mentality we want someone representing us to have?
Do we even need anyone representing us at all? I am not saying that the students in the One or Action tickets shouldn’t have a voice, but I think it’s safe to say that, as college students, we are old enough to individually represent ourselves.
If you are reading this I hope you realize that you deserve to have a voice in this school just as much as anyone in Student Senate does. It doesn’t make any sense that we would even need a group to speak up for all of us when we could all unite and speak for ourselves. I am not on the Restart ticket because I want to represent anyone, I am on the Restart ticket because I want to go to a school where the power lies in the hands of every unique student that goes here.
Everyone on the Restart ticket realizes that we are students just like everyone else who goes here. We don’t need to sugarcoat what we stand for because what we stand for is the truth, and the truth is that we are paying way too much money to go to a school where it is way too easy to feel so voiceless. The truth is that if we would all just unite we can get real work done and we wouldn’t need to split into different campaigns.
Imagine how effective a protest against tuition would be if all of us united and fought it ourselves. In the past, writing strongly worded letters and even talking to the administration about lowering tuition hasn’t gotten us anywhere. If Restart wins, we will take real action on these issues and many more by protesting to get what we want and deserve as students. The only way we can make this happen is if all of us, as students, realize that our vote actually matters.
I strongly encourage you to look further into the different campaigns and see that Restart is different than the others. If you vote for Restart you will see that we do not need an exclusive group representing us at all; what we need is a strong Student Union where you and I and every single student that goes here can join in and have power in numbers. If you want to see real change for this university and want to unite with your fellow students to make it happen, vote Restart on April 17!
Laura Davis is a freshman studying studio art and a candidate for South Green senator on the Restart ticket.
