The Polls are Open

Election fever has struck Pennsylvania. No, I'm not talking about the Democratic Primary. The Student government election started today. There are 73 students vying for 61 spots. Sadly, many students will vote for whoever has the cleverest sign on locust walk.

Yet, other students will vote for different reasons. Several student groups will send out an email with a list of endorsements. There is nothing wrong with that, but it really makes me wonder what is the role of our student government. When an email goes out saying, you should vote for x because he supports y (a non Penn related issue), I question the scope of student government.

Recently, the UA spent a session debating the Red Cross ban on blood donations from homosexuals. Sure, this ban affects many Penn students, but it is not directly related to Penn. The UA should not be the venue for that. The UA should only deal with issues within Penn or else we forget the point of our fellow representatives.

Currently student government seems like a waste of time, but I do thank them for bringing the NY Times.

So go exercise your voting powers today, because the other election coming up is going to be depressing.