Well folks, it happened. Justice has been served to the Kirkwood ticket for their dishonest ways. The IUSA Supreme Court (like Taco Supreme?) decided today, after hours of deliberation, that six substantial violations would disqualify the Kirkwood ticket from the IUSA elections, thus handing the 'seat of power' over to the runner-up and slightly less corrupt Big Red ticket. And if I have anything to say about it, it is "GOOD RIDDANCE".
Corrupt? Amoral? Run for office!
It is about damn time that the axe came down hard on these people who kept building lie upon lie. First it was just some crazy guy sending his former roommates e-mails, then we found out they were going to some others on the ticket, then we find out they were going to the President-Elect. All said and done, the six violations were exactly double the minimum amount of violations needed to disqualify someone from the elections.
It's terrifying to note that you need more than one major violation to get the axe (one is enough, honest!). This means that one count of election fraud and one count of high-end bribery, and YOU ARE STILL IN! How wonderful to know that Chicago politics carry on their tradition down here in Bloomington! (See:
Political History of Chicago if you don't know what's up...)
As I've said many times before, it is horrendously ridiculous to think that people who I may have class with (though they probably would have tried to shank me, prison style, by now) have been accused and found guilty of corruption. I am confounded by the idea of this even having to be a worry at this low of a form of government, but I guess that power really does have the ability to corrupt good people.
And here's where I get a little controversial: I hate to keep pointing this out, but while the VAST majority of the Greek community is composed of hard-working and classy students, there are a few bad apples that spoil the bunch, and they infect everyone within that area of our campus. I have many friends in Greek Life, but I have to be honest: did I expect this sort of corruption from an all-Greek ticket? Yes. It is something that makes perfect sense to me, knowing about what the 'bad apples' do.
It makes perfect sense. I never really trusted the message of this ticket, as they talked about "going green" but never talked about how to "go green", for one example. I don't have very high expectations of student leaders from Greek Life because of the reputation of these bad apples. Am I wrong to underestimate those that actually do seem to follow the rule because of their association with Greek Life? Well, since I'm referring to it as an underestimation, you can tell that I actually do feel bad about saying it. But I think it needs to be said nonetheless.
Basically, we need to have a diverse ticket. We need to have a ticket with males and females, heterosexuals and homosexuals, blacks and whites and browns and all ethnicities represented. We need to give extra voice to student groups, and we need to focus on making change on not only campus and student issues (like that basketball student section), but about bigger (and frankly, more important in my narrow view) political issues.
But here's the bottom line: Justice has been served. But what's next? Here's a preview:
1. Should these students have a notation of corruption on their records?
Since a few of these people seeking office actually did dishonest things, should they have a mark of dishonesty (like academic dishonesty) on their record? This may be a little harsh, but it may prevent cheating like this in the future. It's like seeing an older sibling spanked--you don't know what they did wrong, but you do know that you don't want to do it. (Note: I do not endorse child abuse all the time.)
2. Is there any action that needs to be taken to resolve the system errors?
Corruption in the
IUSA Election Commission? YOU BET YOUR ASS! Maybe these people should be students appointed by the university/have no affiliation with the tickets that are running/have a general distaste for everyone! If I were to be commisioner (which I can't because then I couldn't criticize the system any as I would be a part OF the system), here are a few points that I would address:
--Voting "Booths" with partisan bias. Some of the tickets set up lap tops and told people to vote. These people happened to be wearing campaign materials for their individual tickets. My idea: keep that stuff 100 feet away from any polling station. Simple, yet unrefined.
--More publicized debates: When political freaks like myself don't even know when the IUSA debates are going on, there is a disturbance in "
the force". How about they actually promote this thing? Don't they have like $82,000? Spend a few bucks promoting it. It's not that difficult! We would really appreciate it!
3. Can this be done?
If this current presidential race is teaching us anything, it is that young people are starting to hold onto their future with greater vigor. There is more political activity among the youth than there was even just a year or two ago. As Bob Dylan said "The times, they are a-changin'" and we'll see more of that in the future. Bob Dylan also said "Heemotannapullyaoooooohhhdahweeyydonn" or something like that, no one can understand him. But the former quote is a good thought.
I really want to get other people's feedback, so comment or send me a message!
I remain pessimistically optimistic, if that's even possible.
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