Picking the Right USG President

For those that have served in USG in years past, Case's student government has undergone major structural and constitutional changes. It has transition itself from a residence-type representative system to a more academic one. It chose to move itself from Thwing Center to Adelbert Hall to provide a more formalized setting for its meetings. Steps were done to ensure that the agencies and committees of student government were explained in detail and to ensure a smooth-running organization. Almost every governing document has been updated to adapt to these new situations.

Though these changes have been done to improve USG's organizational and structural ability, it still depends on the students that are elected by the student body to fill those positions. Experienced representatives compete against popular students over the right on who's the person to best represent the undergraduates. Candidates try to exhibit some form of mastery in their campaign speeches and plans in order to persuade any student willing to cast his or her vote their way. Campaign flyers and posters are plastered against every known posting space. Chalking covers mostly every entrance to every University building. Regulated mass e-mails talk about the need to support a particular candidate. Anything that can be taken out of a political how-to-book in winning an election is being used.

It is pretty likely that over 50-60% of the undergraduates have already made up their minds come election day. They will make their choice based on friendship, allegiance to a certain student group or fraternity or sorority, or perhaps a political alliance designed to elect a certain slate. In Case's situation, there are no student political parties. The only thing that matters in these cases is whether you are an independent, a current student leader, a Greek person, or a STPS / Honorary student. The only possibilites before the online vote is whether at least one candidate will get disqualified by the Election Commission based on an accusation from another or an internal investigation made by USG members. This will only depend on the ability of maintaining an impartial Commission. Of course it is sometimes quite difficult to find those type of people. Almost everyone has an agenda of sorts. The only way is to figure them out and then you are on your way to being elected.

With regards to the USG Presidency itself, we have all witnessed bad and good officers. We have seen candidates offer grand schemes of an effective government on behalf of the students. Some have given ideas of reforming the organization itself to root out financial and organizational problems. Others have focused on the need to communicate to the students. Some students will run to oust the current officers because of their lack of action or perhaps wrongful actions during the academic year. This is something that has happened almost every election. It is really not a surprise. There will always be students that will feel that the current USG officers may not have done a good performance, and the officers themselves will think otherwise.

The candidate that is right for the job as President must know that he is only accountable to the undergraduates, not to the University administration. While it is true that being an officer will undoubtedly give you access to the upper echelons of the campus staff, the various administrative offices, and the Board of Trustees, you are there to represent the STUDENTS, not yourself, and not on the other side. This has been lost a few times during each new group of officers that has taken over the reins of USG. Sometimes, you have to know when to put your foot down.

The candidate must also know how to treat the other major organizations (UPB, IFC, Panhel, Media Board, RHA) as a respectful equal in terms of overall governance. USG is a member of the Student Executive Council (SEC) where the President and Treasurer of USG, Media Board, UPB, IFC/Panhel [presidents only] and RHA as a non-voting member meet. This committee is quite important. You will need this forum to exchange ideas and to update each other on issues and problems that may affect a substantial percentage of the student body. The SEC also oversees the distribution of the Student Activity Fee (SAF). Fund allocation and distribution will become a top issue with an expanding student body and a higher flow of revenue from the Fee.

The candidate must learn the difference between having a personal relationship and a professional one. He/she must learn that teamwork is the only solution to a more productive USG. The new President must learn how to handle the personality and behaviour of their Vice-Presidents (Finance, Academic Affairs, Development, Judicial). There will be a difference in this relationship if the President is a graduating student versus a student that is currently a sophomore or junior. Chances are that any one of those Vice-Presidents may look towards the top seat next year so be prepared.

Even despite the reasons above, the undergraduates can be quite unpredictable. It could take a slogan, an incident, rumors, or an argument to change the vote. In the end, it could really be that the most popular person out there will win the Presidency. Even though there are rules in the Election Bylaws that only allow current USG members or past members that have served for at least one semester to run for President, the major factor involved will be the popularity of the candidate running. Social status can never be ignored. That's life.

Past elected Presidents have turned out to be productive, organised, personable, and have the quick ability to sort out the minor and major problems/issues that have surfaced. On the other hand, we have seen poor Presidents that were control-freaks, unorganised, narrow-minded, lazy and unreliable, and were just there for personal gain only just to have their resume say "Student Government President." They know who they are.

Sometimes the dark horse candidate can turn out to be one of the best USG Presidents. Sometimes that good-looking candidate can turn out to be one of the worst. The familiar saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" comes to mind. I do not really care if it is cheesy or not. If you are interested in seeing an effective student government to help get through the bad times the University is going through, you will have to vote for the candidate that can best do that.

Suggestion: Pro-student candidates obviously. Being way too aligned with the administration could be a negative in this case (i.e. STPS).