The A.S. Election scandal is a ‘shit-storm’ over a very small cake

I work within Associated Students and the issue of an alleged bribery/incentive to vote has caused a lot of division and tension amongst students and the AS. The party system and high emotions has created an Us VS Them dynamic demonstrated by personal attacks on social media, reminiscent of Republican presidential debates.

We’re all students. At the end of the day we will most likely find each other sitting across a table at Freebirds or Hanna Kitchen, after some Friday night shenanigans. Thankfully, UCSB is known for our social scene more than our politics.

So the question arises… What to do with our current issue of an alleged corruption? It is of the utmost importance that as college students we promote transparency and unity in our election process.

The beginning of a very long evening

I have spoken to numerous members of the Greek system who sense a backlash against fraternities and sororities on campus. Yet there are other students who feel that their voice is not being heard. As stated by Aaron Jones in the Wednesday senate meeting, “What if everyone is partially right?”

The two main issues with AS elections are the party system and the amount of money involved. The division on our campus is rooted in the party system. As a transfer student, student body party systems are new to me. So I cannot help think, do we need them? Does a party system work in other communities? *cough*cough* US Congress. Why create division before elections even start?

Secondly, it is baffling as to why there is so much money in student elections. Parties and individual candidates spent over $11,000 dollars in total. Why do political parties hand out shirts, donuts, flyers to incentivize voting? Do we need all of this? I would personally vote for the character of the person not the name or the color of their shirt. Having said this, I might not argue against free donuts/cookies with milk however though they must be low fat or fat free.

For the sake of transparency, the students of this school deserve an independent investigation. When I served in previous leadership roles in past clubs ranging from President, Senator all the way to committee chair I have been completely transparent. When anyone questioned my character I knew I could provide them with the relevant information.

The current AS senators

In leadership, it is crucial to have the trust of the people you are representing. An independent investigation that brings light to the situation, without political party bias will ease the minds of the students. The outcome of the investigation is a debate for another day.

In short, we’re all getting passionate fighting over a very small cake. We all have friends in and outside of Greek life and it is wrong to characterize the whole institution as morally suspect. Everybody in the election was fighting to improve our campus.

I don’t see anything wrong with philanthropy and I also don’t see anything wrong with students asking for an investigation.

Let the independent investigation take its course, let the outcome be dealt with, and let’s move on to more important matters. Like opening the gym for 24 hours

My point is this: we are not that different and the differences we do have should be embraced. In the midst of the scandal, this campus has forgotten that.