OCR Text |
Show 4 Signpost-Tuesday, May 1, 1984 EdhDRIAl 13 offices unopposed Elections Draw Few Candidates SOW NEMILPREN,,. EVEN IHCXJGfl WE CAN! HAVE PKAYERS IN school je constitution says mmmmmim, Does Television Predict People's Behavior? by Colleen Mewing Editor-in-Chief Why is it that nobody likes to run for a student government office? There are 19 positions to run for the important offices of president, executive vice president, academic vice president and 16 senate positions representing the schools and organizations on cam1 pus. Of these 19 positions, 13 of the candidates are running unopposed. This means that these 13 students practically have a sure shot of winning their office (write-in candidates are the only competition for those unopposed). It seems that every year it gets worse. Everybody talks about elections and at one time or another you hear of a friend that mentions running but never does. As a result, there's never any real stiff competition in the student government elections. How much satisfaction can a person get by winning a student position unopposed? I think that I . would much rather like the challenge of actually running against an opponent, just to see if I had the stamina to win -and to know that I won fair and square because the students were more impressed by me than the candidate I was running against. Running unopposed is an easy victory, and it shows that there aren't many students out there who care and the ones who are running unopposed must really care because they are of the select few that are trying for an office in student government. One week from today is the primary elections. There are only two offices that are having primary elections -executive vice president and the senate seat for the School of Business. It almost seems useless to have a primary election. Why not put all three names on the general election ballot and let the students choose from all three? The turnout for voting is very poor anyway (and for a primary consisting of only two to vote for, the turn-out will be even lower than if it were for a final general election). If the primary election were skipped, it would give all three seeking their respective offices a better chance. In order for students to get to know the candidates and know what position they are running for, a debate between the candidates will be held tomorrow at noon in the Union Building. Although there are so many students running unopposed, it would still be good to go and listen to the debate just the same. The candidates will announce their platforms, answer specific questions and then the studentbody will be able to address the candidates with any questions that they would like to ask. If students have any specific ideas or would like to address a certain issue with the candidates, this would be the best time to do it. For those of you who are really serious about elections and about who will be the leaders in the upcoming academic year, I invite you to go and listen to the debate. Even though you may not be interested in running yourself, at least take the time to get to know who is running. Weber State needs student-elected officers officers that were chosen and supported by the students, and officers that the students wanted to vote in, not officers that a student just went and voted for without knowing anything about them. And with so many offices unopposed, it will be hard to want to go and meet the candidates. But now it is up to us, the studentbody, to want to meet the persons that will be at the helm next year. by Kevin Carrillo Business Manager Over the past several years, a new acceptance of violence has become part of our society. We are accepting a lot more of it without realizing that it does exist. I am not talking about crime in the big city. Major crime is down in almost all of the country. However, we as a nation are beginning to lose our perspective on violence. Since the early days of television there has been the debate concerning the effects television holds on the viewers. The question raised is: Does what is protrayed on the screen cause people to behave in a certain manner? Social ills can not be placed on the sacrificial television set. TV is one of the best educators that we have. The problem is that we are beginning to allow the fact to rule the fiction of the broadcast media. An example of this concerns the recent "Big Dan's" rape trial last month in New Bedford, Mass. The case dealt with four men who were accused and convicted of gang-raping a young mother on a pool table. The trial was interesting in the fact that millions of Americans were able to watchgavel-to-gavel televison coverage of the case. The same day the sentencing was held, a 12-year-old boy in a neighboring community allegedly asked a10-year-old girl into his basement to play pool and then assaulted her on the pool table. Police say that the boy had been watching the rape trial on TV and decided that rape looked like fun. I am not so naive as to think that this is an open and shut case that proves to the world that there is too much violence on the airwaves. I do not believe that by watching The A Team an individual will start running around and blowing up third world nations. The issue is that we are presenting fact as fiction and visa versa. No longer are the horrors of war limited to the evening news. We now can experience the pain and suffering through many of the made-for-televison movies that flood the airwaves each year. Are we presenting a fair picture of life or are we continuing the cliche that "might makes right?" I would like to know the rationale behind the complete broadcasting of the New Bedford rape trial. Was it a public service? Do we still maintain the idea that if you show people enough violence they will become peaceloving? Proposals are now being developed which would allow the public to watch the executions of prisoners. Supporters of the plan feel that this will discourage others who might have criminal tendencies. All of this would be available by way of the public airwaves. It is easy to watch televison today and accept the violence as comic book material. However, it is becoming hard to know where play-acting ends and the real world begins. Violence is always going to be around but there is no need for us to allow it to become the norm. Letters to the Editor Policy The Signpost welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters should be typed, double spaced and not exceed 250 words. The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel, and the right to refuse to print any letter deemed inappropriate. Each letter must include the name, address and signature of the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Letters may be submitted at the Signpost office, UB 267 or mailed to the Signpost, mail code 2110. |