Favoritism is fair in SA

Is the Student Association nepotistic? The answer is absolutely not ("Outside candidates face obstacles as election nears," March 24). Yes, it is a tight-knit community. Yes, the Elevation Party essentially picks who will be running, and yes, they do give other positions to party supporters. Is that really a crime though? Is that even a story worth publishing? Think about these questions in a different context. A Republican President is elected into office. A person campaigning for the Democrats should not expect to receive a cabinet position. In fact, once everything is all said and done, all the cabinet positions for this Republican President have been filled by, that's right, you guessed it, Republicans. Is this nepotism? No!

In organizations like the Federal Government or SA, the party in power fills its delegated positions with party supporters. This insures efficiency and uniformity. If the party does a poor job or misuses its power, then a new election is only a few months away, vote them out of office. Let a new party take over, appoint its people, and make its changes. SA is not an exclusive social club, if one wishes to get involved, go for it, that is what I did. There is no special committee that picks people and approaches them to join in. Run for a position or find one of the countless ways to get involved with SA. No one is going to ask you for the secret password.

Also, Francisco Baiocchi, current Resident Hall Association Secretary and former candidate for SUNY SA delegate on the Reform Our Campus ticket, recorded a private, friendly conversation between himself and an SA official; an act that in many states is illegal. Unfortunately, New York is not one of them.

What exactly was Mr. Baiocchi's motive in bringing this "story" to the public? Well, according to The Spectrum, "Baiocchi said he's leaving the race because he is disillusioned by what he perceives to be unethical bribes from two SA officials who promised him high-level positions next year if he dropped and turned on fellow party member Matthew Pelkey."

On the surface, he appears to be a righteous fighter for the common good. Baiocchi is dropping out of the race though. What happened to all the righteousness? He is not even running against the people who he claims are corrupt! This is merely an act of spite.