2008 Woodie Awards
Reforms a positive change for SG
Staff Editorial
Issue date: 12/13/07 Section: Soap Box
In light of Tuesday's General Student Senate meeting and former President William Pomerleau's resignation, students should reconsider how they think about elections.
A petition seeking a recall of Pomerleau's election gathered 503 signatures; he was originally elected with only 375 votes. While people seem to have felt strongly about the recall, the time to have expressed discontent is during an election. If people were dissatisfied with candidates, they should consider running themselves. This is the only way students will see real change.
We applaud the Student Senate for passing a resolution on Tuesday which will make it easier for write-in candidates to run. Instead of registering one week in advance of the elections, students are now allowed to announce their write-in candidacies up until 5 p.m. the day of the election. This gives anyone the chance to run at any time - and students should consider participating.
Student body presidents also have a recent history of not fulfilling their year long terms, which raises questions about why the seat is so frequently vacated. Former 2006 President Brigham McNaughton led to Aaron Sterling, who led to Adam Kirkland. Last year, Priyanth Chandrasekar's graduation halfway through his term led to William Pomerleau, who has left us with Steven Moran as acting president.
Despite his decision to resign, Pomerleau deserves respect for the time that he served the student body. If anything is to be gained from this situation, it's that University of Maine students are more empowered to actively participate in student elections.
A petition seeking a recall of Pomerleau's election gathered 503 signatures; he was originally elected with only 375 votes. While people seem to have felt strongly about the recall, the time to have expressed discontent is during an election. If people were dissatisfied with candidates, they should consider running themselves. This is the only way students will see real change.
We applaud the Student Senate for passing a resolution on Tuesday which will make it easier for write-in candidates to run. Instead of registering one week in advance of the elections, students are now allowed to announce their write-in candidacies up until 5 p.m. the day of the election. This gives anyone the chance to run at any time - and students should consider participating.
Student body presidents also have a recent history of not fulfilling their year long terms, which raises questions about why the seat is so frequently vacated. Former 2006 President Brigham McNaughton led to Aaron Sterling, who led to Adam Kirkland. Last year, Priyanth Chandrasekar's graduation halfway through his term led to William Pomerleau, who has left us with Steven Moran as acting president.
Despite his decision to resign, Pomerleau deserves respect for the time that he served the student body. If anything is to be gained from this situation, it's that University of Maine students are more empowered to actively participate in student elections.
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